HE ENGLISH 



MANLEY AND HA1LMANH 



BOB 




CCBIRCHARD r ^ 




Book. /Hn 



GIFT OF HEIRS OF 

DR. LOUIS R. KLEMM 



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The English Language 



The English Language 

An Introduction to the Principles 
which Govern its Right Use 



BY 

FREDERICK MANLEY 

AND 

W. N. HAILMANN 



BOSTON 
C. C. BIRCHARD AND COMPANY 

1903 



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Copyright, 1902 
By C. C. Birchard and Co. 



Ijonis R. Klemm 
Bequest 
Feb. 1926 



Great is Language — it is the mightiest of the sciences ; 
It is the fullness, color, form, diversity of the earth. 
And of men and women, and of all qualities and processes j 
It is greater than wealth — it is greater than buildings, 
Ships, religions, painting, music / 

Great is the English Speech — what speech is so great as the 
English ? 

Walt Whitman. 



FOREWORD 

AGAIN and again it has been announced that 
English is a grammarless tongue, and the general 
recognition of this liberating truth is beginning to 
have a decided influence upon the school. To aid 
in hastening the day of full emancipation from the 
thraldom of the needless study of needless distinc- 
tions is the purpose of The ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Naturally, lucidly, vividly, with direct appeal to 
the sensibilities and emotions, and with a minimum of 
inflectional and syntactic complications, the language 
of the English peoples has developed the power to 
convey thought and feeling, and to enlist sympathy 
and co-operation. Ability to say and to interpret is 
conditioned only by ability to think and feel and will, 
and is no way hampered by involved difficulties of 
diction such as only erudition can overcome. Eng- 
lish speech lends itself with equal readiness to the 
simplest and the most complex thought, to the most 
superficial and the deepest feeling, to the plainest and 
the most impassioned appeal. Whatever of clear- 
ness, beauty, and impressiveness may distinguish its 
statements, it derives directly from the speaker's men- 



Vlll 



FOREWORD 



tal life, not from etymological and syntactic dogma. 
It is distinctively the language of a people destined 
for freedom, — for a freedom in which personal influ- 
ence depends exclusively upon personal worth and 
inherent ability. 

For these reasons our book comes to the learner 
under the plain title, " The English Language," 
placing stress in its pages upon the stimulation and 
liberation of thought and feeling rather than upon 
certain borrowed technicalities of speech of little or 
no value in modern English. Whatever grammatical 
technicalities are needed are introduced more or less 
incidentally in the main or First Part, which is de- 
voted to the logical and rhetorical structure of English 
speech. To this there has been added in the Sec- 
ond Part a number of chapters wherein grammatical 
technicalities are collated in a shape which, it is 
hoped, will render them available, singly or collec- 
tively, whenever during study of the First Part, or 
after its conclusion, their introduction may seem 
desirable. 

Perhaps it is needless to add that the book is in- 
tended for grammar-school pupils, not only as an 
adequate introduction to an appreciation and control 
of the English of life and literature, but also as a 
sufficient preparation for its advanced study in higher 
departments of learning. 



CONTENTS 

PART I 

Page 

Introduction xiii 

Lesson 

I. Ideas and Words. Thoughts and Sentences i 

II. The Two Essential Parts of Every Sentence 6 

III. Kinds of Sentences 14 

IV. Kinds of Predication. — Nouns .... 24 
V. Logical and Grammatical Analysis. . . 37 

VI. Verbs . . . , 43 

VII. Direct and Indirect Object 52 

VIII. Verbs continued: the Passive Form . . 56 

IX. Verbs as Copulas and as Predicating Words 6$ 

X. Auxiliaries, or Helping Verbs .... 70 

XL Auxiliaries continued 77 

XII. Auxiliaries concluded 84 

XIII. Pronouns 89 

XIV. Modifiers 105 

XV. Modifiers continued no 

XVI. Modifiers continued. Adverbs . . . . 115 

XVII. Adjectives and Adverbs Compared . . . 122 

XVIII. Modifiers continued. Phrases and Clauses 135 

XIX. Modifiers continued. Participles . . . 142 

XX. Modifiers. A Review 143 



x CONTENTS 

Lesson Page 

XXI. Modifiers continued. Phrases . . . 154 

XXII. Modifiers continued. Adjective Clauses 161 

XXIII. Modifiers continued. Adverb Clauses . 167 

XXIV. Modifiers concluded. Apposition . . 172 
XXV. Complements 177 

XXVI. Compound Subject, Predicate and Ob- 
ject 187 

XXVII. Phrases used as Nouns . . . . . . 195 

XXIII. Clauses used as Nouns 200 

XXIX. Independent Elements 207 

XXX. Pleonasm 213 

XXXI. Ellipsis . . . 217 

XXXII. Classes of Sentences 223 

XXXIII. How the Simple Sentence may be Ex- 

panded 230 

XXXIV. Compound Sentences 240 

PART II 

Introduction 255 

Nouns 257 

Pronouns ' 264 

Nouns and Pronouns. — Number 271 

Nouns and Pronouns. — Gender 282 

Nouns and Pronouns. — Case 288 

Cases of Pronouns 292 

Adjectives 298 

Verbs 307 



CONTENTS xi 

Page 

Verbs continued. Voice 318 

Verbs continued. Number, Tense 324 

Participles 364 

Mode 349 

Infinitives 355 

Adverbs 368 

Conjunctions 373 

Prepositions 381 

Composition 388 

Paragraph 390 

Choice of Words 392 

Arrangement of Words 395 

Suggestions 397 

Figurative Speech 415 

Punctuation 430 

Letter- Writing 435 



INTRODUCTION 

Of all the wonderful gifts of man the most won- 
derful is the gift of speech. The stars, shining down 
upon us through awful spaces which even our fancy 
cannot measure; the frost pictures that nature traces 
in winter on lake, river, and pond, and on the window- 
panes of our homes ; the cities which the wise ants 
build ; the honey-domes of the bee ; the forms and 
colors of the flowers ; the journeys of the birds, made 
in the ocean of air from the meadows of the South to 
the woods and barns of the North — what wonderful 
things are these ! And yet the language of man is 
equally wonderful, and holds as much of mystery 
and beauty. 

Without language, we could not express our de- 
light in the marvels of nature. Without language, we 
could not make known to each other our joy in 
the glory of the world about us, nor could we bear 
witness to that greater world of mind and spirit which 
lies within the least and the mightiest of human 
beings. Without language, man, who is now su- 
preme in nature, would be one of the weakest of 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

her children, for language makes it possible for men 
to speak and work together, and it is by working 
together, by understanding and helping one another, 
that we become creatures of power. 

The purpose of the book which you are about to 
study is to help you to learn something of this won- 
derful gift of speech which you are continually using, 
but of the beauty of which you may never have 
thought seriously. 

From your early childhood you have had the 
power to make your thoughts known to each other 
by means of language, and no doubt you have ex- 
pressed yourself in a pleasing manner, and have 
always been clearly understood. The study of cer- 
tain principles, however, will help you to speak still 
more clearly, and will enable you to place your 
thoughts before others in a still more pleasing and 
beautiful form. 

These principles of which we speak belong to the 
Art of Right Expression. 

There is no other art quite so important as this, 
and there is none more interesting or profitable when 
studied in the proper spirit. 

The Art of Right Expression is, first of all, a 
Social Art. In order to be happy, to grow in 
strength of mind and purity of spirit, man must have 
companions to live with him, to work with him, to 
share his joys and his sorrows, and, above all, to 



IN TROD UCTION xv 



reason and speak with him. In other words, he 
must be a member of human society, a social being. 

The greatest forces in the universe are thought 
and feeling, and the greatest need of life is the ex- 
pression of our thoughts and feelings. 

The principles or laws which help us to write and 
speak properly are called, taken together, the Sci- 
ence of Grammar. 

There was a time when grammar was unknown, and 
many great and beautiful thoughts were spoken, and 
lovely poems were sung long before mankind ever 
dreamed of there being an Art of Expression and a 
Science of Grammar. 

But you must not think that the speech of man 
was without laws before the principles of language 
expression were written down ; for even as you have 
always spoken according to some law, though you 
may not have known it, so mankind have always 
thought and spoken in an orderly way, and have 
been able to make their thoughts known to one 
another. Yet there were always some men who 
observed more closely, and who, therefore, expressed 
themselves more beautifully than their fellows; there 
was always some" genius, some greatly gifted person, 
whose thoughts were greater than those of his neigh- 
bors, and whose manner of giving his thoughts to 
the world was more worthy of imitation than the way 
of his fellows. What the earliest students of language 



xvi INTRODUCTION 



did was to write down the most beautiful and orderly 
forms of speech to be found in their mother-tongue, 
and to make rules from them, rules for the people to 
observe, so that the speech of all their countrymen 
might be the same, and grow in orderliness and 
beauty. 

The English language has very few rules of gram- 
mar, and none of the confusing forms which are to be 
found in Latin and Greek, as well as in some of the 
modern European languages. For this reason, it is 
the greatest of all languages, since that language is 
best which enables us to express our thoughts with 
the least am'ount of effort and the greatest degree of 
clearness. 

Yet though English has not so great a number of 
grammatical rules as other languages, it has never- 
theless certain laws of Right Expression, laws which 
teach us the way which the majority of English- 
speaking people have agreed upon as the best man- 
ner of speaking and writing. And the purpose of 
this book is to set forth these laws and to help you 
to apply them in your speech and writing. 

Much of what you will read may prove familiar to 
you, and we hope that all you read may help you to 
gain greater and greater power in the use of the 
noble language which you own in common with the 
poets and the sages of your race. 



The English Language 



The English Language 



Lesson I 

Ideas and Words. Thoughts and Sentences 

The sky is dark. 
L ightning flashes. 
Thunder roars. 
Rain falls. 

If a bear or a squirrel were caught in a downpour 
of rain, he would be just as conscious of a feeling of 
wetness as any boy or girl, but neither the bear nor 
the squirrel would be able to name the thing that was 
wetting him nor to tell of its action. 

You would be able to do both ; and your power to 
name a thing and to state something about it sepa- 
rates you for all time from the dumb creatures of the 
world, and makes you a human being, a reasoning 
creature, gifted with the power of thought and the 
equally wonderful power of expression. 

Rain falls. 

This is the simplest form in which a thought can 
be satisfactorily expressed, and yet it contains two 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



kinds of words which are the foundation of every 
statement we make, no matter how long it may be. 
For in the word rain you name something, and in the 
word falls you tell about one of the ways in which 
rain shows itself to you ; and naming words and stat- 
ing words, properly related, form the basis of every 
thought expression. 

The naming word rain stands for your mind- 
picture of the rain itself, for the mind is filled with 
pictures of everything that you have ever seen, or 
felt, or heard, and by means of words we make our 
mind pictures known to each other. 

We are constantly receiving impressions of all 
things that come under our observation, and these 
impressions of things remain in the mind as pictures, 
and so the mind of every boy and girl may be looked 
upon as a picture-gallery more marvellous than any 
to be found in Rome, or Florence, or Paris. 

Mind-pictures are called Ideas. 

Think of how many ideas we can have in connection 
with the one idea rain. We can have many ideas, for 
instance, that tell something definite in regard to rain. 
We can tell something about its qualities: that it is 
wet, for example ; that it is cold or warm or gentle or 
fierce, according to the season. We can tell how 
rain clouds are formed; how countless particles of 



IDEAS AND WORDS 



moisture wander up to the blue heavens, how they 
become clouds that shine in glory across the sunset 
sky, and how the clouds turn into drops and return to 
the earth to refresh its flowers and scatter comfort 
everywhere. 

Words are the signs by which we make our ideas 
known to each other. Thus, sky, lightning, thunder, 
and rain are words which stand for certain ideas or 
mind-pictures. 

A word which names an idea cannot of itself 
express a tliought. In order to do this we must use 
other words like dark, flashes, roars, and falls, to state 
something particular about the idea named. 

We can, for example, select one or more definite 
thoughts about the rain from the suggestions given 
above in the sixth paragraph, and form Sentences. 

The rain refreshes the flowers. 

This is a sentence. In it the separate ideas — rain, 
refreshes, and flowers — are so connected and related 
as to express a complete and definite thought. 

A sentence is a group of words in which a naming part 
and a stating part are so related that they express a 
thought. 

The Sentence is the basis of all thought expression. 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



EXERCISES 

1. Name, orally, the ideas that come to your mind 
with any one of the words below, as for example : 
Snow — white, soft, flaky, cold. 

Sky, wind, cloud, waves, sea, mountain, iron, lead, 
gold, marble, glass, coal, bird, fish, snake, horse, wool, 
cotton, silk, leather, house, church, schoolhouse, 
barn, stable, hammer, chisel, plane, plow, corn, 
wheat, sugar-cane, apples, grapes, oranges, salt, 
pepper, coffee, rice, sugar, rose-bush, etc. 

2. Name in writing the ideas that come to your 
mind with any two of the above words. 

3. Name, orally, ideas that come to your mind with 
any one of the following words: sweet, sour, hard, 
bright, cold, white, high ; swim, fly, run, roll, roar, 
sing, burns, fall, grows ; sell, see, hear, catch, eat, 
like, read ; honest, gentle, kind, fierce, brave ; slowly, 
quickly, softly. 

4. Name in writing ideas that come to your mind 
with any three of the above words, as, 

Sweet, sour, hard — apples. 

5. Name one or more ideas suggested to your 
mind by the following couplets: white and cold, cold 



IDEAS AND WORDS 5 

and bright, soft and light, hard and black, red and 
fragrant, transparent and brittle, cool and refreshing, 
juicy and sweet; gentle and kind, fierce and wild, 
good and true, attentive and obedient; moon and 
stars, ice and snow, wheat and corn, birds and bees, 
sugar and cotton, oranges and lemons ; forests and 
swift-flowing streams ; sand and shells. 

6. Speak (or write) six sentences expressing your 
thoughts about any one of the ideas named in Exer- 
cise i, or about any similar idea that may occur to 
you. 

6. Write or speak a number of sentences express- 
ing your thoughts about any one of the ideas named 
in Exercise I, or about any similar idea, making a 
composition similar to the following model: 

THE WIND 

The wind blows over the land. The wind comes 
from the sea and sweeps over the woods. It brings 
the freshness of the wild sea and the pure odors of 
the woodlands to all. 

Millions of little seeds are scattered by the wind 
over the fields. The wind is the mighty sower of 
nature. 



Lesson II 

The Two Essential Parts of Every Sentence 

Every sentence is made up of two parts, (a) the 
part which names some idea, and (b) the part which 
tells something definite about the idea which is 
named. 

Ever since you began to speak your thoughts to 
others you have expressed yourself in Sentences. 

The part of the sentence which names is called 
The Subject. 

The part of the sentence which tells something 
about the subject is called The Predicate. 



SENTENCES 


Subject 


Predicate 


Ram 


falls. 


The little dew drops 


twinkle merrily. 


The sunlight 


is warm and cheerful. 


The little seeds 


unfold themselves in the 




blue air. 


Flowers 


bloom everywhere. 


Trees 


grow. 



Observe that some of the sentences consist of 
only two words, one to name the subject of the 



EXAMPLES 7 

thought, and one to state something in regard to it. 
Notice that in three of the sentences the subject, as 
well as the predicate, consists of several words. 

We. all have the power of looking into our own 
minds, just as we would into a picture gallery. 

Suppose we should look into our own minds for 
some idea which time has stored there, and which 
memory has kept bright. The idea Tree might 
come to us. Think of how many interesting stories 
we could tell about it ! We could tell about its 
growth from a sapling to a stately and leafy shelter 
for the birds to live and sing in ; for the dew and 
rain to hang diamond beads upon its twigs and 
leaves; for the sunlight to flicker and twinkle on 
its branches, and turn them to silver and gold; for 
the wind to murmur low-voiced songs through its 
greenness in summer, and to cry through its bare 
boughs in winter. 

From these and many other ideas connected with 
your mind-picture of a tree you could, by selecting 
several definite ideas, form a number of Sentences. 

EXAMPLES: — 

Trees give shelter to the birds. 
Withotit trees, the earth would be barren. 
Moisture is stored up in trees and given off to the 
air. 



8 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The forests keep sand and gravel from washing 
down into the valleys. 

Trees beautify the earth as stars glorify the 
heavens. 

EXERCISES 

I. Look into the following sentences and determine 
in each one which is the subject and which the 
predicate: 

The English language is the most wonderful in the 
world. 

It has borrowed words from almost every known 
tongue. 

Tea is a Chinese zvord. 

Sash is an Arabian word. 

Gutta-percha comes from the Malay. 

Hussar is borrowed from the Hungarian. 

Polka is a Servian word. 

Dollar is from the Dutch. 

Buffalo is from the Portuguese. 

Tiger comes from the Spanish. 

Admiral comes from the Arabian. 

English has borrowed largely from the French. 

Many scientific names are Greek. 

Many of our words are Latin. 

A number of our words are from the Italian. 



EXERCISES 9 

English is a storehouse of beautiful ideas. 

The history of a century may be found in a single 
word. 

Bees turn the nectar of flowers into the honey- 
domes of their hives. 

English makes the riches of other tongues her 
own. 

2. Look into your mind for some picture, such as 
a street, a river, a lake, a squirrel, a robin, or any- 
thing else that you have seen, and tell something 
about it orally in three or more sentences. 

3. Distinguish the subject and predicate in the 
following sentences, and write them separately, plac- 
ing the subject first; Thus: 

Subject Predicate 

Trees grow everywhere. 

The clouds fly. 

The wind sings in the trees. 

Every pond is twinkling. 

Bands of leaves are whirling along the 

roads. 
The swallows sail to the south. 
The air is clear. 
Autumn has come. 

4. Complete the following sketch by inserting 
suitable subjects: 



10 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



A. rises in the East. shines in the 

woodlands. brings warmth and light and 

good cheer. 

B. chirp and fly from tree to tree. 

gather food for the hungry babes in the nest. 
sing joyously to greet the light. 

C. unfold their petals to the radiance. 

On the petals of the flowers shine a7id twinkle 

like diamond beads. 

What part of the day do these sentences tell us 
about? What would be a good title for this com- 
position? 

5. Complete the following sentences by inserting 
suitable predicates: 

The sun in the West. The woodlands and 

fields . The evening star . The young 

moon . The night hawk . Through 

the windows of the farmhouses fires -. 

All things . 



What would be a suitable title for the above 
composition? 

6. Write a brief composition of five or more 
sentences about a fire, a run-away, a sunrise, a morn- 



SUNLIGHT 1 1 



ing walk, or some other incident, and underline the 
subject of each sentence. 

7. Give an account, oral or written, of some inter- 
esting thing that you have seen this month. Under- 
line the predicates. 

8. Read the following sketch of sunlight, and 
write a similar sketch or composition on some sub- 
ject such as clouds, flowers, birds, the wind, father, 
mother, spring, summer, autumn, winter, etc. 

SUNLIGHT 

The sunligJit brings glory everywhere. 

It makes the clouds flame with color. 

Beautiful are its rays. 

They make houses of red brick seem palaces of 
gold. 

How they fill the streets with beauty ! 

How merrily they dance upon the waters ! 

Does not the sunlight seem like nature s smile ? 

It is the friend of all. 

The rags of the beggar are touched by its bright- 
ness. 

TJie tiny seeds feel its warmth. 

The wood-mouse sits by its door and enjoys it. 

The miglity mountain is bathed by its glory. 

The sick man is kissed by its beams. 

The sunlight, like the love of God, is over all. 



12 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

NOTE: When you place together a number of 
thoughts about something (in order to express one 
large or complete thought), as in the above sentences 
about sunlight, you make a Composition. 

Composition consists in placing together; and in 
respect to language it means placing together and 
relating a number of separate sentences in order to 
build up in one sketch or picture all we wish to say 
about our topic or the subject of our thought. 

Thus, in the above sketch or composition, sunlight 
is the subject or topic of our thought. A number 
of ideas are expressed about it in separate sentences. 
All the sentences together form a brief composition 
on sunlight. 

" Composition means, literally and simply, putting 
several things together so as to make one thing out 
of them. Thus, a musician composes an air by 
putting notes together in certain relations ; a poet 
composes a poem by putting thoughts and words in 
pleasant order, and a painter (composes) a picture 
by putting thoughts, forms, and colors in pleasant 
order." 

In order to compose well in words, you must prac- 
tise constantly. You must also learn to observe, for 
unless you have something really worth saying, your 
composition will never be of much value, no matter 



COMPOSITION 13 



how correctly you write, nor how prettily. You 
should also read good books, and try to imitate the 
compositions which you find in them. 

There is, however, one thing concerning the form 
of compositions which you should keep in mind as 
you write. 

This is shown in the following story. You will 
notice that the story is divided into three parts. The 
purpose of this is to show that each part, while 
related to the others, introduces a new and distinct 
feature of the story. 

These divisions, marking off the several parts of a 
composition, are called Paragraphs. 

THE ELEPHANT'S REVENGE 

An elephant in India used to receive nuts and 
candy from a tailor whose shop was in a street 
through which the elephant passed. 

He looked upon the tailor as a faithful friend. 
But once, when he put his trunk through the window, 
the tailor, to amuse himself, stuck a needle into the 
poor elephant's trunk. 

The elephant remembered this cruel trick and one 
day, as the tailor was seated at his work, the elephant 
came along and saw him. He went to a pool of 
filthy water, filled his trunk with some of it, and 
squirted it all over the tailor. 



Lesson III 

Kinds of Sentences 

WE do not possess the beautiful gift of language 
for the sole purpose of expressing our thoughts in 
matter-of-fact statements. We use language for a far 
greater end. We use it to voice our feelings, as well 
as our thoughts, to express our love of beauty and 
good, our hopes, our sorrows, our joys, our dis- 
appointments, our hate, and our anger, — to express 
our complete selves. 

Since in language we express ourselves completely, 
it follows that our sentences cannot always be state- 
ments of things and facts observed. Sometimes a 
sentence may be the expression of our feelings for 
some sorrow, for some joy, for a sick companion or a 
piece of good news; sometimes it may be a question 
and not a statement; and sometimes it may be an 
address to some one, an appeal, or a command or 
prayer. 

Read the following sentences : 

The rain is falling steadily. 

Does the world seem dreary to yon ? 

Do the streets appear dark and ngly ? 

A soft gray mist lies over everything. 

Look at the raindrops against the electric lights. 

Do they not look like many '-colored jewels ? 



KINDS OF SENTENCES 1 5 

Look at the puddles under the lights. 

How radia?it they are ! 

What a glory of purple and bright pearl color lies in 
them ! 

Hoiv soft a?id tender the mist makes everything ! 

What ?nystery it gives to people and buildings and 
houses and wagons ! 

Beauty does not live in flowers a?id sunlight alone. 

Is there any power more wonderful, more beautiful 
than the rain ! 

Observe how most of these sentences differ from 
those given in the first lesson. Notice that, unlike 
those sentences, many of these are not mere state- 
ments about things, but expressions of admiration and 
wonder, and also expressions of question and com- 
mand. 

The thoughts and feelings of every human being 
are acted upon by the forces of life as the objects of 
nature are by the elements. Just as trees, flowers, 
lakes, and all the gentle things of nature seem dreamy, 
or lively, or silent, according as the day is still or 
stormy, so we are quiet, or joyful, or sad, according as 
our feelings are moved by what goes on about us. 
And so every sentence that we utter is a guide to the 
state of our minds, even as lightning is the expression 
of electric clouds, silent running waters of depth, and 
foam and babble of shallow brooks. 



1 6 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Let us examine some of the sentences in our 
examples : 

I . The ram is falling steadily. 

There is no feeling expressed in this sentence. It 
is a mere statement, a Declaration of something 
observed, made in a matter-of-fact manner. Such a 
sentence is, therefore, called a Declarative Sentence. 

2. Does the world seem dreary to you? 

Notice the difference between this and the first 
sentence. Here there is no fact stated, no declara- 
tion made. On the contrary, this second sentence 
asks a question. Such a sentence is called an Inter- 
rogative Sentence. 

3. Look at the raindrops against the electric lights. 

Here neither a statement is made nor a question 
asked, but some one is directed or commanded to do 
something. The sentence is the expression of a com- 
mand or direction, and such a sentence is called an 
Imperative Sentence. 

4. How radiant they are ! 

Here, you see, we have neither a mere statement, 
nor a question, nor a command. This sentence is 
rather the expression of the observer's admiration for 
the radiance of the puddles, and we can imagine that 
in expressing his admiration, his tone of voice, and 



KINDS OF SENTENCES 17 

the manner of his speaking, would not be as quiet 
as if he were making an ordinary statement. In this 
instance, his feeling for beauty, his love of color, are 
stirred by the radiance of the puddles in the light, 
and the tone of his voice is affected by his feelings ; 
and so we can, in fancy, hear our imagined observer 
exclaiming ■, not speaking quietly. 

Whenever we tell people how much we like or dis- 
like, how deeply we love or despise, how much we 
admire or pity, etc., our voice is so acted upon by 
our feelings that instead of speaking calmly, we show 
these feelings in the tones of our voice. A sentence 
in which we express feeling as well as fact is called an 
Exclamatory Sentence. 

5 . Is there any power more wonderful \ more beauti- 
ful than the rain ! 

Read this sentence carefully. Observe that it has 
the form of a question, and yet it does not ask for 
information. Notice that our imagined observer asks 
his listeners to agree with him in feeling. We can 
fancy that the listener's reply would be, " No, indeed, 
there is no such power." 

This sentence, therefore, combines question and 
exclamation. It is interrogative in form, but exclama- 
tory in spirit and meaning. 



1 8 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

There are, then, four distinct classes of sentences, 
and each class is known by the part it plays in the 
expression of thought and feeling. 

I. Declarative Sentences, or mere statements of facts 
or opinions. 
II. Interrogative Sentences, or questions. 

NOTE: Sometimes sentences are interrogative in 
form, but exclamatory in meaning. 

III. Imperative Sentences, expressing a request, a 

command, or an appeal. 

IV. Exclamatory Sentences, expressing some feeling 

or emotion, as well as a thought. 

EXERCISES 

1. Study the examples of sentences given near 
the beginning of this lesson (pages 14 and 15), de- 
termine to what class each sentence belongs, and 
state the reason for your decision. 

2. Write four declarative sentences about any one 
of the subjects given below, four interrogative sen- 
tences about another subject, four imperative sen- 
tences about a third subject, and four exclamatory 
sentences about a fourth subject. 



EXERCISES 19 

A ride on horse-back, a sleigh-ride, a trip by boat 
or rail, a dinner, some lesson at school, some city or 
village, some river or mountain, some bird or insect, 
some kind of tree or fruit, some book, a sunset or 
sunrise, some kind of storm, a conflagration, some 
accident, the loss of some pet animal. 

Note: A declarative sentence is closed with a 
period ; an interrogative sentence is closed with a 
question mark, and an exclamatory sentence with 
an exclamation mark. An imperative sentence is 
usually closed with a period, but sometimes, when it 
is meant to be very impressive, with an exclamation 
mark. 

3. Study the following sentences, determine to 
which class each one belongs, and state the reason for 
your decision. Notice which sentences are inter- 
rogative in form, but exclamatory in meaning. 

^ Take heart! The world is zvide and 
God is everywJiere. 

Who teaches little bears to wake 

When roots are growing sweet ? 

Who shows the birds tJie way to take ? 

Who teaches orioles to make 

Their new spuii homes so snug and neat ? 

Where shall I look for a subject ? 



20 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Shall I write about the purple and gold of sunset ? 
Have you ever seen electric lights reflected in the 
sidewalk after a rain ? 

Is not that a beautiful sight / 

Have you noticed how the mist softens everything? 

Have you noticed how it makes distant carts, horses, 
men, women, children, and buildings look like masses 
of tenderest shade ? 

Shall I write about the glory of kings ? 

Shall I read about the brave deeds of heroes ? 

Have you ever heard the sound of the fire-gong ? 
Have you ever seen the heroes in their red jackets going 
to the fire? 

Do that duty which lies nearest thee. 

What is more gentle tlian a wind hi summer ? 
What is more soothing than the pretty hummer 
That stays one moment in an open flower, 
Then buzzes cheerily from bower to boiver ? 

4. Copy the following examples and punctuate 
them properly : 

How peaceful everything seems on a windless day 
Not a leaf stirs Not a flozver waves 
The little ponds lie under the blue heavens like the 
drowsy eyes of a child 



EXERCISES 2 1 

Is that the wind murmuring in the distant woods 
See the corn bending in the far-off meadows 
Here it comes What a change the wind makes 
How the leaves and flowers dance How the ponds 

wink and sparkle like the eyes of a merry laughing 

child 

Hark Listen to the rain What black clouds are 
sweeping across the sky 

Don't be afraid We '11 soon be at home 

Can't you see the roof over the trees 

Tliink of the snug corner near the window 

What fun we shall have watching the storm 

Love your enemies bless them that curse you do good 
to them that hate you and pray for them that despite- 
fillly use you and persecute you Matthew vii. 

Build thee more stately mansions O my soul 

As the swift seasons roll 

Leave thy low vaulted past 

Let each new temple nobler than the last 

Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast 

Till thou at length art free 

Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea 

Holmes. 
Winter is past and the southern slopes are fringed 

with tender green 



22 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

What seems at first a greater barrier between nations 
than the vast ocean Yet how humble a servant the 
science of man has made it 

What is mightier than steam What is more de- 
structive than fire What is so uncertain as the wind 
Man has tamed them all and made them instruments 
of good 

What is more hard or cold or lifeless than marble 
Yet in the hands of an Angelo what life and beauty 
and majesty arise from the dead stone 

5. Write a short composition of six or more sen- 
tences on some one of the following topics, or some 
other similar one. Let your composition contain 
at least one of each of the four kinds of sentences 
studied above. 

A Snow-storm ;. A Hail-storm ; Caught in the 
Rain; How Neptune Saved the Baby; Lost in the 
Woods ; Our Christmas Tree ; Father's Return from 

; What the Robin Said to Me; The Cat and 

the Mouse; A Sultry Day; Escape from a Burning 
Building; The Lost Found; A Game of Base- 
ball; A Boat-ride; A Skating-Party ; Up in a Bal- 
loon; Gathering Cherries. 

6. Study the following hints and make up from 



EXERCISES 23 



them a connected story to be told to the class, or 
choose some other similar topic for this purpose. 

Circles day: ( 1 ) Morning. Looking forward to 
the delights of the circus. Bright sky. Everywhere 
well and happy. Nothing to spoil the pleasure of 
to-day. 

(2) Can the sunlight be fading! Clouds are ris- 
ing. Rain begins to fall. It pours down. No 
circus after all. What a disappointment ! The rain 
is not so heavy. Are the clouds passing away? 
Hurrah ! We are going after all. 

(3) At the circus. What a splendid procession! 
The clowns. The animals. The trained horses, 
ponies, and monkeys. What fun ! How enjoyable ! 
Wasn't it nice that the rain stopped in time? 

Note : Observe the three divisions or paragraphs 
in this sketch, and be careful in your own composi- 
tion to make similar divisions whenever this seems 
necessary. 



Lesson IV 

Kinds of Predication 
Let us examine the following sentences: 

a. John works. b. Roses bloom. 

c. John is kind. d. Roses are fragrant. 

e. John is a boy. /. Roses are flowers. 

i. Each of the first two sentences, a and b, consists 
of only two words. One of these — John, roses — 
names the subject of the thought ; the other — works, 
blooni — predicates something of the subject. 

In these sentences, the words which name the 
subject are Nouns, and the words which predicate are 
Verbs. 

The name of a person, a thing, or a place is there- 
fore called a Noun. 

A word which asserts or states that the person, 
thing, or place named in the subject does or is some- 
thing is called a Verb. 

Each of these first two sentences, then, consists 
of a noun, which is the Subject, and a verb, which is 
the Predicate. 



Subject 


Predicate-verb 


John 


works. 


Roses 


bloom. 



KINDS OF PREDICATION 25 

Noun and verb are the foundation words of every 
sentence. By means of nouns, we name the sub- 
jects of our thoughts, and by means of verbs we 
assert that the subject named does something or is 
something: 

2. Each of the two sentences in the second set at 
the head of the lesson, c and d, consists of three words. 
In these the first word — Jolin, roses — names the 
subject; the second word — is, are — asserts; the 
third word — kind, fragrant — tells what is asserted. 

In each sentence, the first word is a noun, the 
second is a verb, and the third is an adjective. 

NOTE : A word used with a noun to describe it or 
to express a quality or attribute of the thing named 
by the noun is called an Adjective. The italicized 
words in the following expressions are adjectives : 

John is kind. Roses are fragrant. Red roses. 
Tall trees. Sugar is sweet. 

Notice that in these sentences the verbs is and are 
do not predicate or tell anything about the subject. 
The thing predicated in the first of these two sen- 
tences is the quality of being kind, and in the 
second the quality of being fragrant. Kind and 
fragrant are the true predicates, and they are joined 
to their subjects — John and roses — by the verbs is 
and are. Verbs like these, which serve to join the 
subject and the predicate, are called Copulas, which 
means joining-words. 



26 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Subject 


Copula 


Predicate-adjective 


John 


is 


kind. 


Roses 


are 


fragrant. 



Note : There are many other forms of the verb 
Be which serve as copulas. In the following sen- 
tences, the italicized verbs, all of which are forms of 
the verb Be, are copulas : I am sick. The man was 
tired. The rooms were warm. Tom will be sorry. 

3. Each of the two sentences in the third set, e and/, 
like the sentences of the second set, is made up of 
three parts. 

You will easily recognize the first two parts — 
John is and Roses are — as the subject and the copula. 

The true predicate in these sentences, however, is 
not an adjective but a noun. In the sentence, John 
is a boy, the noun boy predicates of John that he 
belongs to a certain class of beings ; and in the 
sentence, Roses are flowers, the noun flowers predi- 
cates of roses that they belong to a certain class 
of plants. The noun boy includes all the attributes 
of the class which it names, and the noun flowers 
includes all the qualities and attributes of that par- 
ticular kind of plant life. These nouns are therefore 
called predicate-nouns. 



Subject 


Copula 


Predicate-noun 


John 


is 


(a) boy. 


Roses 


are 


flowers. 



EXERCISES 27 



Now let us once more examine these three sen- 
tences : 

Roses bloom. 
Roses are fragrant. 
Roses are flowers. 

In the first sentence, a predicate-verb tells us 
what " roses " do. 

In the second sentence, a copula and a predicate- 
adjective tell us what particular quality or attribute 
" roses " have. 

In the third sentence, a copula and a predicate- 
noun tells us to what class of things " roses " belong. 

In other words, the first sentence predicates an 
action; the second, a quality ; the third, a class. 

NOTE : Of some predicate-verbs, we prefer to say- 
that they predicate a condition or state of being, 
rather than an action. This is the case with such 
verbs as stand, lie, sit, sleep, become, dream, and 
others, of which you will learn in a later lesson. 

EXERCISES 

1. Tell which words in the following sentences 
are predicate-verbs, predicate-adjectives, predicate- 
nouns, and copulas: 

The morning was beautiful. The sun shone. The 
sky was clear. The birds sang. The bees gathered 



28 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

sweet honey. The grass zvas fresh and green. Every 
living thing was glad. Our hearts sang praises to 
the Giver of life. 

Sparrows are lively birds. They are full of mis- 
chief They fly about and twitter constantly. 

Harry was awake early this morning. He is a 
lively boy and full of fun. He is healthy and strong. 
He zaill work and play all day. hi the evening he 
zvill be tired and sleepy. He will sleep all night and 
wake up the next morning bright as ever. 

2. Construct a number of sentences and use in 
them any four of the following verbs as predicate- 
verbs, any four of the adjectives as predicate-adjec- 
tives, and any four of the nouns as predicate-nouns. 
Underline the words used as in the following ex- 
amples : 

EXAMPLES 

The wind blew through the trees. 
Dutiful piipils are obedient to their teachers. 
The waves were high and fierce. 
Gold and silver are precious metals. 

Blow, bend, fall, cry, weep, break, burn, crow, 
creep, crawl, dream, seek, find, build, fly, freeze, hide, 
play, buy, pay, ride, write, flow, float. 

Small, high, round, square, sharp, dull, sly, obedi- 



EXAMPLES 29 



ent, iuaiistriousy prudent, fierce, brave, cruel, generous, 
helpful, true, courageous, busy, happy, merry, trans- 
parent, violet, brilliant. 

Building, animal, reptile, artisan, tools, vegetable, 
house, plant, friend, enemies, fruit-trees, city, gem, 
spring flowers, song-birds, metals, school studies, 
artists. 

3. Write a brief composition, similar to those in 
Exercise I, on any three of the following or some 
similar subjects: Underline in the first the predicate- 
verbs, in the second the predicate-adjectives, and in 
the third the predicate-nouns: 

A beautiful evening. A clear nig Jit. A sultry 
afternoon. The coming of a thunderstorm. A bliz- 
zard. A rainy day. Etc. 

Our cat. Rover. My pony. The oriole. About 
crows. About buzzards. The trout. Cows. Horses. 
My squirrel, Etc. 



NOUNS. — In the beginning of this lesson we 
learned that the names of persons or things are 
called, in grammar, Nouns. 

The word noun comes from a Latin word, nomen, 
which means a name. 

Everything that we hear or see or touch, every 
thing that stirs our minds or hearts through the 



30 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

senses, has a name. The flowers of the Tneadows, 
the creatures moving across them, the birds darting 
about us, the waters of the earth, the pebbles of their 
shores, — all of these and thousands of other things 
have names by which we remember them and with 
the help of which we think and talk about them. 

In every sentence that expresses a thought, some 
noun, or some word or word-group standing for a 
noun, tells what the thought is about. The noun, as 
subject of the sentence, is the head-word of the sen- 
tence ; every other word used has some connection 
with it, tells what the person or thing named in the 
noun is or does or has done to it. 

As the head-stone of an arch holds all the other 
stones in their places, so the noun as subject of the 
sentence fixes the meaning of all the other words in 
the sentence ; and when you remove this noun, the 
whole structure falls to pieces. You may try this 
with any sentence we have so far considered, and you 
will see what a jumble it makes. 

In grammar nouns are divided into two large 
classes. Let us examine the following sentences and 
find out what these classes are: 

1. The greatest poet of England is Sliakespeare. 

2. One of the sweetest poets of America is Long- 

fellow. 



EXAMPLES 31 

3. We owe the discovery of America to Columbus. 

4. Our own Washington is one of the greatest 

men the ivorld has seen. 

You will notice in the first sentence that the names 
of England and Sliakespeare begin with a capital 
letter, and that the word poet begins with a small 
letter. 

The name poet is given to all men who write poems. 
It is a name common to all such persons and there- 
fore it is called a Common Noun. 

But the name Shakespeare is given to only one of 
this class of persons. It belongs to him alone, is 
proper to him alone ; and therefore it is called a 
Proper Noun. 

The same is true of England (Proper Noun), the 
name of one particular country (Common Noun). 

You will notice the same distinction in the nouns 
of the remaining sentences, which you may study for 
yourself. 

Notice also that Proper Nouns always begin with a 
capital letter. 

Common Nouns begin with a small letter, except in 
the beginning of a sentence. (Poets like Shake- 
speare are rare. Men like Washington come but 
once to a nation.) 

NOTE: Sometimes common nouns and other 
words, used in the body of a sentence, begin with a 



32 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

capital letter, in order to direct special attention to 
them. You will come across many illich. examples in 
this book. 

The first word of a sentence always begins with a 
capital letter. 

The name of God, or any word used in its place, 
always begins with a capital. — God, the Lord, the 
Giver of life. 

Other classifications of nouns are treated in Part II. 

EXERCISES 

1. Write a brief biography of yourself. State 
when and where you were born, who your parents 
and other members of the family are, and relate some 
happenings in your life that are of interest to you. 

After writing this composition, you may read it 
again, draw a line under each common noun, and see 
that each of your proper nouns begins with a capital 
letter. 

2. Write a brief description of the city, town, or 
section of country in which you live. 

Then mark your nouns as in Exercise I. 

3. Give an account of some event in which you 
have taken part or which you have witnessed, — a 
game, an excursion, a fire, a parade, a festival, etc. 
Use proper nouns correctly. 



EXERCISES 33 

Now let us examine the following sentences : 

1. My father is kind to me, and I am grateful to 

him. 

2. My father' s house stands on a hill. 

3 . Not all fathers are as kind as ours. 

4. Yet all children should respect their fathers' 

wishes. 

Here you notice that the word father occurs in four 
distinct forms: father, father 's, fat 'hers, and fathers' . 

In the first two sentences, father and father's 
denote only o?ze person. These are the singular 
forms of the word. (Singular means denoting one?) 

In the last two sentences, fatJiers and fathers' 
denote several persons. These are the plural forms 
of the word. (Plural means denoting more than one?) 

In the first and third sentences the words father 
and fathers simply name the person and persons we 
have in mind. These are, therefore, the simple — 
singular and plural — forms of the noun. 

In the second and fourth sentences, however, the 
words father's and fathers' are used with the addi- 
tional idea of possession or limitation. It is the house 
owned by my father, that we are speaking of, and the 
wishes, not of any one else, but of their fathers. 
These are, therefore, called the possessive forms of the 
noun. 

3 



34 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

NOTES: I. The little mark (') before the letter s 
in the singular possessive form and after the letter s 
in the plural possessive form is called Apostrophe. 

2. The plural forms of some nouns differ widely 
from their singular forms : — man, men ; woman, 
women; child, children. In these cases, the plural 
possessives are men's, women s, children's. 

For other ways of forming plurals, see Part II, 
pages 272-278. 

3. In everyday life, we sometimes pronounce two 
words as if they were one : There 's, for example, for 
there is; they're, for they are; he's, for he is. In 
writing such combinations, an apostrophe (') is used, 
as above, to show that a letter is left out. Be careful 
to distinguish between the apostrophe as the sign 
of omitted letters and the apostrophe showing 
possession. 

EXERCISE 

In the place of words printed in small letters, insert 
their correct forms. In some cases the form given is 
correct. 

1. In the early day of our country, long before it 
was called, as it is to-day, the United States, the 
colonist settlement were frequently attacked by Indian. 



EXERCISE 35 

On such occasions, the white man, woman, and child 
were gathered together in rude forts, so that they 
might be safe. The settler greatest dread was that his 
wife or child might be captured by the red man, for the 
Indian way of torturing captive were often very cruel. 

The white man gun enabled them to resist the savage 
attacks ; but sometimes the red man raids were made 
at night, when the colonist were sleeping, and then 
they succeeded in burning the settlement and making 

many prisoner. 

2. There are many story of white child captured by 
Indian growing up in ignorance of their parent, their 
nation, and their nation God. 

One beautiful story tells of a white child who was 
adopted by a great Indian chief. He grew up believ- 
ing himself an Indian, and the Indian chief son. 

But one day, when he had grown to early man- 
hood, the old chief took him away from the Indian 
village, and led him to the summit of a high 
mountain. 

Having reached the journey end, the chief said: 
" Yonder in the valley is your home. You are a 
pale-face, a Christian. Your people God is not ours ; 
your parent way are not our way. Yet the Great spirit 
knows my heart love for you in thus giving you back 
to your people. Soon I must go to Him who is the 
Great father of all. 



36 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

" You are young. You are beautiful. The christian, 
your people, will admire and exalt you. Farewell." 

Before the young man answer could reach him, he 
had disappeared. 

3. Brown as mahogany from continued exposure 
to the sun ray and the wind touches, with long hair 
and lithe, muscular limb, the young man entered his 

countryman Settlement. 

There he learned that his parent were dead. He 
saw only strange face. He saw only way foreign and 
displeasing to him, a cramped and artificial life, and 
custom which he could not understand. 

He stayed a while among his people, but the 
voices of the wilderness kept calling to him by night, 
and the wind-stirred branch seemed ever to beckon 
him away, and the charm of his old wild life was 
continually working in him. 

One day, unable to bear the white man life any 
longer, he put off the European clothes given to 
him in Jamestown, and went back to the Indian. 

Imagine the old chief joy in seeing him again. 



Lesson V 

Logical and Grammatical Analysis 

Compare the following sentences : 

Plants grow. 

The plants of tropical countries grow luxuriantly. 

The first sentence consists of only two words, a 
noun to name the subject, and a verb to predicate 
something about this subject. It expresses a general 
statement, in that it predicates something which is 
true of all plants. 

The second sentence expresses a thought about 
some particular plants. It is not just plants, or 
plants in general, of which we are thinking, but the 
plants of tropical countries, and no others; and what 
we predicate of them is not simply that they grow, 
but that they grow luxuriantly . 

Yet the second sentence may be reduced to the 
two words plants and grow, and still make sense. 
Indeed, this is true of every sentence, no matter how 
long and elaborate it may be ; for the basis of every 
satisfactory thought-expression is a noun, or some 
element equivalent to a noun in its naming power, 
and a verb, or other predicate-word. 



38 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

These two fundamental parts, to which every 
sentence may be reduced, are called Subject-Base and 
Predicate-Base in order to distinguish them from the 
Full Subject and the Full Predicate. 

For you must know that there are two ways of look- 
ing at sentences : one from the stand-point of Gram- 
mar and the other from the stand-point of Logic. 

Grammar considers the forms, classes, meanings, 
and relations of individual words. 

Logic looks upon sentences as complete thoughts, 
and concerns itself, therefore, with the relation of 
complete ideas, not with the individual words and 
phrases which we put together to build up complete 
ideas. 

Thus, in the second sentence, The plants of tropical 
countries is a complete idea about a particular kind 
of plants ; and grows luxuriantly is another complete 
idea predicated of them. These two expressions, 
therefore, constitute, respectively, the Logical Subject 
and the Logical Predicate of the sentence. 

On the other hand, the subject-base, plants, is the 
Grammatical Subject, and the predicate-base, grow, is 
the Grammatical Predicate of the same sentence. 

Grammar further tells us that in the logical sub- 
ject, The plants of tropical countries, the gram- 
matical subject, plants, is modified by the little 
determining word, the, and by the phrase, of tropical 
countries ; and also that in the logical predicate, 



LOGICAL AND GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS 39 

grow luxuriantly, the grammatical predicate grow is 
modified by the word luxuriantly, which tells us how 
they grow. 

When we reduce a sentence to its parts for the 
purpose of discovering the use which each part 
serves in the expression of our thoughts, we deal in 
analysis. Analysis is a Greek word which means 
taking apart, that is, separating a thing into the 
several parts of which it is composed. 

The following examples of analysis will make this 
still clearer to you : 

Men live. 
Fire burns. 

In both these sentences the logical and the gram- 
matical analysis are the same. Men is both logical 
and grammatical subject in the first sentence; and 
the same is true of fire in the second sentence. 
Similarly, live, in the first sentence, and bums, in 
the second, are both logical and grammatical predi- 
cates. In neither sentence are there any modifying 
elements. 

The royal sun in glorious state appears. 

In this sentence, The royal sun is the logical sub- 
ject of our thought, and in glorious state appears is its 
logical predicate. 



40 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



In analyzing the sentence grammatically, we would 
say that sun is the subject-base, or the grammatical 
subject, modified by the word glorious, which de- 
scribes sun, and by the determining word the, which 
shows the particular sun which we have in mind. 

We would then go on to say that appears is the 
predicate-base, or the grammatical predicate, modi- 
fied by the word-group, or phrase, in glorious state, 
which tells us how or in what way it appears. 

In the sentence, The world is the visible garment 
of God, The world is the logical subject, and is the 
visible garment of God is the logical predicate. 
World is the grammatical subject, garment is the 
grammatical predicate, and is, which connects the 
two, is the copula. It will be easy for you to find 
the modifiers. 

In the sentence, Glorious are the colors of tJie east- 
ern sky, glorious is both logical and grammatical 
predicate. The logical subject is the colors of the 
eastern sky, and are is the copula. In the logical 
subject, colors is grammatical subject modified by 
the and by the phrase of the eastern sky. 

EXERCISES 

1. Read the following sentences, and prepare 
yourself to name in each of them the grammatical 
subject and predicate : 



EXERCISES 41 

Shadows are gone. A bird is singing. 

Fragrance is. The whip-poor-will is flying. 

Light breaks. Stars are fading. 

Colors are glorious. Dawn is breaking. 

2. Read the sentences in this exercise again, and 
notice what a faint picture they give of the dawn. 
Then read the following sentences and see how the 
addition of limiting and describing modifiers affects 
the picture. 

The dark shadows are gone. A delicious fragrance 
is in the air. Somewhere a little bird is singing. 
The lonesome whip-poor-will is flying away. A faint 
light breaks in the east. The bright stars are fading. 
Glorious are the colors of the eastern sky. Dawn is 
breaking. 

Now choose any three of the sentences, copy 
them, and place one line under each grammatical 
subject, two lines under each grammatical predicate, 
and three lines under each copula. 

3. Expand the following faint sketch into a vivid 
description by the addition of suitable modifiers: 

Sky grows . . . Clouds gather. Wind whistles. 
Trees bend. Snow falls. Flakes whirl. Woods 
whiten. Boys and girls are getting out sleds. Winter 
is a . . . season. 



42 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

4. Reduce the following description to a faint 
sketch by singling out the grammatical subjects and 
predicates, as in the sketch of Exercise I : 

Great, round, fiery eyes are shitting in the trees. 
The timid little bunny runs away. The busy, noisy 
red squirrel grows qiriet. The wise partridge lies still 
among the dead leaves. The gentle woodland creatures 
are hiding. A cruel owl is in the woods. 

5. Write a sketch similar to that in Exercise I on 
any one of the following subjects, and then expand 
it into a vivid picture or story : 

A Ship. A Steamboat. English Sparrows. Christ- 
mas Eve. Song Birds. Wild flowers* Sight of a 
busy Street. An Old House. Saturday. Sunday. 
Thanksgiving. Washington 's Birthday. 

NOTE: Select descriptive and limiting words and 
phrases carefully. The chief end of language study 
is to help you to give your thoughts to others as 
truthfully and vividly as possible. A careless use of 
such words and phrases is a fault frequently found in 
people who do not use their eyes properly. The 
expression of their thoughts is like a blurred photo- 
graph, giving only a faint and unsatisfactory picture 
of the things they wish to report. 



Lesson VI 

Verbs 
Read the following paragraph about the sun. 
When the sun takes its course towards us in the 



spring season of the year it drives away the sharp 
frosts and the heavy fogs of winter: it clears the 
heavens, decks the earth with a variety of plants and 
flowers, and awakes the birds to the pleasant strains 
of their natural music. 

The underlined words in the above paragraph are 
verbs. Notice that each verb tells us about some 
particular way in which the sun shows itself to us. 

If you will but observe nature carefully, you will 
discover that all things are forever appearing to us 
in a new light. 

In spring the violet blooms. In summer it fades. 
The birds sing in the light of dawn. Through the 
day they work and frolic, even as children work and 
play, and, like children, they rest and sleep in the 
darkness and peace of night. 

Every hour, nay, every moment, the state and 
action of things are changing. Just now you are 
studying. In a little while you will run and play. 
And later you will eat, and then rest, or sleep. 



44 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



The clouds of heaven rise from the deeps of 
heaven. They are gathered in the sky and are 
driven by the wind, and are sculptured by the at- 
mosphere into shapes of beauty and glory. They 
fade and disappear. 

Verbs are the words by means of which we express the 
ever-changing states and actions of all things. 

They are the vital words of the sentence, that is, 
the words which make the sentence live as a com- 
plete thought, since they are the words by means of 
which we utter forth our judgments and our obser- 
vations of all things. 

If you live in the country, or near the open fields, 
watch the birds, and write down your observations 
of them. Observe whatever insects you may see, 
and write about them, or tell of them to your 
friends. 

Are the flowers of the wayside always the same? 
Do they seem to sleep in summer days when the 
winds are at peace and the air is still? 

Is their state always the same? When the winds 
are abroad, and murmur over them, or when the 
comforting rain falls upon them, do they show them- 
selves to you as things in a certain state, as of sleep 
or rest, or do they appear as things having action? 



VERBS 45 



EXERCISES 

1. Notice the verbs in the following. Observe 
how each one tells of some way in which the subject 
shows itself to us : 

The train flashes and thunders along. It whistles 
and shrieks and flies by the crossings. It leaves the 
city far behind. It rushes on into the country. The 
smoke from the chimney is poured out in thick 
sooty masses and rises and whirls and grows thinner 
and thinner until it is torn and scattered by the wind 
and lies against the clear sky like fragments of a 
delicate veil. 

The train whirls on. 

The ploughman turns and waves his hand to it, 
and then he bends again to his work in the furrows 
of the upland meadow. 

Now the cars thunder over a bridge. The river 
below shines and leaps as it runs to the sea. Some 
fishermen are rowing a dory. The fish they have 
caught lie in a mass in the stern and their colors 
glow and flash, while the oars also flash and make 
silver circles in the sunlit water. 

The train speeds on. 

It darts past a pretty village. Girls and boys are 
playing before a little school-house. The girls are 



46 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

gathering flowers, some are running and laughing, 
and others stand in little groups. Some of the boys 
are playing base-ball. All of them are enjoying 
themselves. 

The whistle blows. The train slows down. The 
bell rings continuously. Houses and tall buildings 
gradually appear and glide past. 

The train stops and our journey is ended. 

2. Write down the things that are done by a river 
from its source to its mouth, by a fireman from the 
alarm to his return, in a storm from its origin to its 
close, by two kittens and their mother playing to- 
gether, during the illness and recovery of a sick 
child, in harvesting wheat, in the preparation and 
circulation of a newspaper, or any other similar 
occurrence. 

3. Write a brief composition, similar to the ex- 
ample given you in Exercise I, on any of the following 
topics: A brook. A street in summer. The same 
street in winter. An electric car. Our school during 
vacation. What we do on Saturday. What we do 
on a rainy holiday, or others. 

Try to recall the most striking actions and states 
of whatever you are describing, so as to make your 
picture life-like. 



VERBS 47 

Verbs are divided into several classes, according 
to the way in which they help us to express our 
observations and judgments. 

Compare these two sets of sentences carefully: 

The Danes invaded England. 
The English resisted the Danes. 
The Danes seized their country. 

The sun sets. 
The clouds glow. 
The dew falls. 

Observe that a thought is equally well expressed 
by any of the above forms. In the sentence, " The 
Danes invaded England," The Danes is the subject 
and invaded Englatzd the predicate. Observe also 
that the verb invaded represents an action directed 
by the Danes toward some object; namely, England. 

First, we have in the subject certain actors, or 
agents, the Danes ; second, the action performed by 
them, invaded, and third, the object toward which 
the action is directed, England. 

In other words, the action of invading is repre- 
sented as passing over from the actor to an object 
which receives it. This is also true of the other 
two sentences : 

The English resisted the invaders. 
The Danes seized their country. 



48 m THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

In the second set of sentences, observe that the 
action expressed by each verb refers only to the 
subject. It does not need any object to complete 
its meaning, and is indeed limited in what it asserts 
to the subject alone. 

To be Remembered : Verbs which need a direct 
object in order to complete a sentence, are called 
Transitive Verbs. Others, which refer to the subject 
alone, and therefore make complete predication in 
themselves, are called Intransitive Verbs. In the sen- 
tences at the head of this lesson, invaded, resisted, 
seized, are Transitive; rises, glows, and falls are 
Intransitive. 

EXERCISES 

1. Examine the following sentences and deter- 
mine which verbs have an object and are Transitive, 
and which verbs have no object and are, therefore, 
Intransitive : — 

SOME PROVERBS 

Follow the river and yon will reach the sea. 

Fair words butter no parsnips. 

A barking dog seldom bites. 

Care will kill a cat. 

Cats hide their claws. 

Beauty is only skin deep. 

Half a loaf is better than no bread. 



EXERCISES 49 



Christmas comes but once a year; and when it 
comes it brings good cheer. 
Do not spur a free horse. 
Fine feathers make fine birds. 
Debt is the worst poverty. 

NOTE : Be very careful in studying such sentences 
as the above to distinguish sharply between transi- 
tive and intransitive verbs. It will help you to 
remember that the name of an object usually an- 
swers a question beginning with whom or what, 
while a class name or predicate-noun (following an 
intransitive verb) answers a question beginning with 
what kind (of a person or thing). 

Brag is a good dog, but Holdfast is better. 
Drive your business ; do not let it drive you. 
Every little helps. 

2. Read carefully the following fable. Then copy 
it and draw under each Transitive Verb and its ob- 
ject, or objects, one line, and under each Intransitive 
Verb two lines. 

THE LION AND THE SQUIRREL 

A squirrel was busy in the branches of an oak- 
tree. Accidentally it missed its hold and fell upon 
a lion that lay at the foot of the tree. His majesty 
awoke in anger, raised his shaggy mane and dis- 

4 



50 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

played his terrific teeth. The squirrel trembled with 
fear, and begged forgiveness of the angry beast. 

" I grant you your life," said the lion, " but on 
condition that you tell me the reason why you little 
beings are always so lively and happy, while my 
time passes so tediously." 

" Yes, sire," replied the squirrel, " in return for 
your mercy, I will gladly comply with your request; 
but he who speaks the truth ought to stand higher 
than he who hears it. Permit me, therefore, to as- 
cend the tree." 

The lion consented; and when the squirrel was 
out of his reach, it thus addressed him. " You wish 
to know why I am always so merry. Conscience 
gives me a joyous mind ; I mean a good conscience. 
Your conscience is not good. You feel day and 
night the sting of your cruelties. You do evil, and 
I do good. You hate and I love." 

3. Make a sentence with each of the following 
sets of words, and distinguish Transitive Verbs with 
their objects, and Intransitive Verbs, as in the previ- 
ous exercise : 

Bee, gather, honey, flower. Gentle, breeze, blow, 
trees. Fierce, gale, lash, sea. Good, conscience, 
better, riches. Tear, stand, eye. Rain, give, farmer, 
hope. Straw, show, wind, blow. 



EXERCISES 5 1 

Cloud, chase, sky. Lightning, flash. Thunder, 
roll. Rain, deluge, land. Birds, hush, song, seek, 
shelter. Brooks, rivers, swell, threaten, flood, low- 
lands. Cloud, break, west. Sun, shine, rainbow, 
appear, east. Joy, fill, heart, living thing. 

Man, own, goose. Goose, golden egg, lay. Man, 
think, goose, full, gold, kill. Found, no gold, goose, 
like, other geese. Greed, lose, man, hope, gold, 
precious goose. 

4. Many verbs may be used both transitively and 
Intransitively; e. g., The birds sing merrily. The 
birds sing sweet songs. Try this with the following 
verbs : 

Bend, bite, blow, break, burn, burst, drink, eat, 
fly, freeze, grow, hide, meet, ride, shake, show, smell, 
stick, swing, weep. 

5. Study the sentences of Paragraph 8, page ii, 
and prepare yourself to classify the verbs and name 
the objects of transitive verbs. 



Lesson VII 

Direct and Indirect Objects 

You have learned that whenever the active form 
of a transitive verb is used, the action which it ex- 
presses implies an object toward which this action 
is immediately directed. We cannot say / throw 
without implying some object of the throwing, such 
as a ball. The name of this object is the Direct 
Object of the transitive verb. 

Indeed, there are certain transitive verbs which, 
in order to make sense, require in addition to this 
direct object another object of a different character. 

Examine the following sentences : 

Games give us enjoyment. 
Exercise gives us strength. 

Which words in these two sentences name the 
direct object, the object toward which the actions 
expressed in the verbs are immediately directed? 

In order to determine this, compare these ex- 
pressions : 

Games give us 

Games give us enjoyment. 



DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECTS 53 

There is no thought whatever, you see, in the first 
group of words, and so it is clear that us cannot be 
the direct object of the verb give. 

In reading the second sentence, however, we see 
at once that the direct object of the verb give is 
enjoyment. It is both untrue and nonsensical to say- 
that games give us, instead of saying that they give 
(as in truth they do) a state of feeling which we call 
enjoyment. Enjoyment is therefore the true object 
of the verb give. Now you will have no difficulty 
in seeing that when we speak of giving a thing, we 
suggest that there is some one to receive it. Games 
could give no enjoyment if there were no boys or 
girls to receive the enjoyment. The word us, there- 
fore, in the sentence 

Games give ?is enjoyment, 

tells to whom the enjoyment is given. But us, 
though it is placed after the verb, is not so closely 
related to the verb as enjoyment, for without us our 
sentence still makes sense, but without enjoyment it 
makes no sense whatever. For enjoyment names 
the direct object of gives, and is therefore necessary 
to the completion of the thought: us simply makes 
the thought more definite by denoting the receivers 
of the thing given. Hence we may call us the In- 
direct Object of the verb. 



54 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Any word which names an object that is indirectly 
affected by the action expressed in a transitive verb, 
is called an Indirect Object. 

In the sentence 

Teacher has given us a holiday 

you will see at once that holiday is the direct object 
of the giving and us the indirect object. 

Note: The indirect object denotes the things or 
persons to whom or for whom the action takes place. 

Be careful, however, not to mistake all words pre- 
ceded by for or to for indirect objects. Sometimes 
phrases containing to and for follow intransitive verbs 
as modifiers. 

Thus : 

/ am going to the woods for a stroll 

contains no object of any sort, since going is intran- 
sitive. To the woods and for a stroll tell where you 
are going and for what purpose. They do not 
denote any indirect receiver of an action. 

EXERCISES 

1. Point out the indirect objects in these sentences: 

Give us this day our daily bread, 

and forgive us our trespasses. .... 



EXERCISES 55 

Give me the spletidid silent sun with all his beams full 

dazzling ; 
Give me juicy autumnal fruit, ripe and red from the 

orchard ; 
Give me a field where the un mowed grass groivs — 
Give me fresh corn and wheat, give me serene-moving 
Animals teaching content. Whitman. 

THE NOBLE MAN 

In sorrow, he gives his neighbor comfort; in sick- 
ness, he gives him relief; in dark hours, he gives him 
hope, and at all times he gives him faith and love. 
In turn, men prepare him blessings, women bring 
him their little troubles and confidences, and children 
give him their trust and affection. 

2. Write (or speak) a number of sentences with 
any six of the following verbs, using direct and in- 
direct objects : 

Afford, bring, buy, fetch, forgive, give, lend, offer, 
owe, pay, promise, sell, send, show, teach, tell, write, 
yield. 

NOTE: Observe that the indirect object may be 
changed into a phrase with to ox for and placed after 
the direct object ; e. g. : Sing me a song, may be 
changed to Sing a song for me or to me. You may 
change your sentences in this way and observe the 
effect of the change. 



Lesson VIII 

Verbs continued : the Passive Form 
Read and compare the two following sentences : 

The Danes invaded England. 
England was invaded by the Danes. 

Observe that while these two sentences differ in 
the order of their words, they both express the 
same thought. 

In the first sentence, Danes is the subject; the 
transitive verb, i?ivaded, is the predicate, and the 
noun, England, is the object which receives the action 
expressed in the predicate. In the second sentence, 
England becomes the subject, and is represented as 
suffering, or tmdergoing, the act of invasion at the 
hands of the Danes. 

In the first sentence we have, (i) an agent, or 
doer: the Danes; (2), the action coming from this 
agent, or doer : invaded, and (3) the object receiv- 
ing this action : England. 

The thing which is emphasized in this first sen- 
tence is, The Danes and what they did to England. 

Let us suppose, however, that we wish to empha- 
size, not what the Danes did, but what was done to 



VERBS 57 



England by the Danes. We must then change the 
Active form of the verb invaded into the Passive 
form. That is, we must represent England as bei?ig 
acted upon by the Danes. 

Observe that was, a form of the verb Be, helps to 
change the transitive verb, invaded, into the passive 
form, was invaded. 

A transitive verb may be made passive by the 
help of some form of the verb Be. 

Active 

The children gathered the wayside flowers and made 
beautiful bouquets of them. 

Passive 

The wayside flowers were gathered by the cJiildreji 
and were made into beautiful bouquets by them. 

When the verb expresses an action as performed 
by the subject, as in The Danes Invaded England, 
it is said to be Active. 

When a verb represents the subject as being acted 
upon, it is said to be Passive. 

Now let us examine the forms of the predicate- 
verbs used in the sentences just quoted. 

In the first sentence we find simple verbs : gathered 
and made. In the second sentence we find verb- 



58 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

forms made up of two words: were gathered and 
were made. The verbs used in the active form of 
sentences are said to be in the active voice ; those 
used in the passive form are said to be in the passive 
voice. 

Note : You will learn more about these forms of 
verbs later on. For the present, you may remember 
that the verb used in the active voice is the principal 
verb, and that the form of the verb to be (is, are, am, 
was, were, etc.) which helps to make the passive voice 
is called an auxiliary or helping verb. You may also 
remember that the form of the principal verb used 
in making the passive voice is called the passive 
participle. 

For the present it will be sufficient to remember 
that participle means, sharing, or partaking of, the 
nature both of adjective and verb. Thus, the parti- 
ciple gathered, in flozvers gathered, or gathered 
flowers, helps to describe flowers as well as to tell 
of an action. It therefore participates in the nature 
and use of adjective and verb, and hence is called a 
participle. 

EXERCISES 

1. Find the active and passive forms of the verbs 
in the following sentences. 



EXERCISES 59 

The swallow's nest is placed beyond harm. It is 
built in the old barn, right under the shingles, and so 
it will be protected from Tabby, the cat. 

Cats often tear down the nests of birds, and kill 
the little birds themselves. Every cat is looked 
upon as a natural enemy by the birds. Tabby, our 
cat, is often annoyed by the daring swallows. They 
follow her about the garden and along the road, 
flashing down through the air as swift as arrows, 
and sometimes even striking her with their sharp 
beaks, like active little sharp-shooters harassing a 
powerful foe. 

Far up on the tilting beams of the barn roof, two 
downy little heads may be seen, peeping over the 
rim of their snug nest : and the beaks of two very 
hungry young swallows are often opened for the 
dainty insects which are brought by the parent birds 
from the neighboring meadows. 

In autumn, the swallows desert their nest, and 
the old barn seems lonely without them. 

By what divine power are the birds taught to know 
the time for flight? By what great and beautiful 
guide are they led safely through the shoreless ocean 
of the air? 

2. Study the following selection and tell which 
verbs are transitive and in the active voice and name 
their objects : 



60 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

THE WHISTLE 

When I was a child seven years old a holiday 
filled my pocket with coppers. I went directly to 
a shop where they sold toys for children, and, being 
charmed with the sound of a whistle that I met by 
the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily 
offered and gave all my money for one. I then 
came home, and went whistling all over the house, 
much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the 
family. My brothers and sisters and cousins, under- 
standing the bargain I had made, told me I had paid 
four times as much as it was worth, put me in mind 
of what good things I might have bought with the 
rest of my money, and laughed at me so much for 
my folly, that I cried with vexation ; and the reflec- 
tion gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave 
me pleasure. Benjamin Franklin. 

3. Study and then complete, orally, the following 
parts of sentences : 

Active Passive 

The merchant sells Goods are sold 

My brother teaches I am taught 

The farmer plows The field is plowed 

Harry threw The ball was thrown 

A fox saw Some grapes were seen 

A cat caught The hare was caught 

The rain deluged The com was refreslied 



EXERCISES 6 1 

A stranger showed We were shown 

The storm wrecked Many vessels were wrecked 

An honest boy tells Work is done neatly 

Kind people pity Kind deeds show 

A brave man fears Horses are often frightened 

4. Turn the active form of the verbs in these 
sentences into passive forms. 

Columbus discovered America. People laughed 
at him when he first announced his determination 
to sail across the ocean. But they afterwards loaded 
him with honors. Everybody looked upon him as 
one of the world's great heroes. For all that, an 
ungrateful country forgot his services to humanity, 
and the soldiers of Spain took him back to Europe 
in chains. To-day a new nation honors and reveres 
the memory of the hero who discovered their 
country. 

5. Rewrite the selection of Exercise 2 and change 
the active sentences into the passive form, and vice 
versa. 

6. Rewrite the brief sketch of Sunlight in Exer- 
cise 8 of Lesson II, and change the active sentences 
into the passive form, and vice versa. 

NOTE: In making the forms of active verbs pas- 
sive, you will observe that only transitive verbs can 



62 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



have passive forms. The reason for this is, that only 
transitive verbs can as a rule take objects. 

Thus : I dream, or I go, or I sleep (intransitive), 
cannot be made passive without being made, at the 
same time, nonsensical. 

He dreams a dream. They sleep the sleep of the 
brave. 

NOTE : Whether a verb is transitive or intransitive 
must be determined by the way it is used. 



Compare the following: — 



Intransitive. 

He looks well. 
The horses walk. 
The man runs. 
The bird sings. 
The boy draws. 
I dream. 

She speaks well. 



Transitive. 



He looks daggers at him. 
We walk the horses. 
The man runs a hotel. 
The bird sings sweet songs. 
The boy draws pictures. 
I dream a gladness where there 

is but woe. 
She speaks her piece well. 



The use and meaning of words are therefore the 
one safe test in determining the class to which they 
belong. 



Lesson IX 

Verbs as Copulas and as Predicating Words 

In Lesson IV, you learned about the use of certain 
verbs and verb-phrases as copulas, or words which 
unite subject and predicate in such sentences as 
John is kind, Roses are fragrant, etc. 

You learned that these copulas are forms of the 
verb Be. 

There are some other verbs that differ very little 
in this respect from the verb Be. These, too, serve 
chiefly as copulas between a subject and its predi- 
cate; but they have some additional meaning of 
their own, since they describe some peculiar state or 
condition of being. 

Thus, when you say, The air becomes hot, or The 
air grozvs hot, you mean that it is gettmg to be hot. 
When you say, The rose smells sweety you mean that 
it is siveet to the sense of smell. When you say, The 
sky looks hazy, you mean that it is hazy to the sense 
of sight. 

Similar verbs are seem, appear, feel, taste, turn, 
remain, and others. 

Now let us look at some of the forms of the verb 
Be in the following sentences : 



64 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The Lord is, was, and ever shall be. 
I remember the days that were. 
Where love is, God is. 

In these sentences each form of the verb Be has 
a distinct meaning. It does not merely connect a 
subject and a predicate, but is in itself a predicate 
and may be changed into some form of the verbs 
to live or to exist. 

The Lord lives, lived, and ever shall live. 
I remember the days that existed. 
Where love exists, God lives. 

Contrast the following sets of sentences in the 
columns, and ^ou will see this still more clearly. 

Notice that the verbs in the left hand column 
make complete predication in themselves, while those 
in the right hand column serve merely as copulas. 

I think, therefore I am. The chickadee is a merry 

little bird. 
God is, nay, alone is. The day was very cold. 

In the beginning was But the little birds were 
the word. cheerful as ever. 

NOTE : When any form of the verb Be is used in 
the sense of live or exist, we frequently use with it 
the word there, in order to introduce the sentence, or 
to avoid harshness in its structure; and also to give 
emphasis to our expressions. 



EXERCISES 65 

The following sentences illustrate this : 

There is joy in well-doing. There are many suns 
larger than our own. Is there no help for me ? Hozv 
many stars there are! There was no greater man 
than Washington. 

You will notice that in these sentences the word 
there adds nothing to the thought, but serves only to 
render the sentence smoother and more intelligible. 

Sometimes you will find the word there used in 
the same way with other verbs, when they have the 
meaning of to be in the sense of to live or to exist, as 
in the following: 

Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself has said, 
This is my own, my native land ? 

EXERCISES 

1. In the following sentences, distinguish between 
those forms of the verb Be which express existence 
and are, therefore, complete predicates in them- 
selves, and those forms which serve merely as 
copulas : 

Where love is, joy is. 
Where evil is, there is unhappiness. 
No animal but man is a thinking being. 
It is only man that can say, " I think, tJierefore 
I am!' 



66 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The secret of enduring- glory is Justice. 

The magnificent cities of olden times are dust. 
Troy is but a legend. Babylon is a myth. Nineveh 
was, but is no more. Their rules were unjust. Their 
foundation was sand. For a little while they were 
all pomp and majesty. And in a little while, they 
were not. 

JOAN OF ARC 

Her eyes were as the ocean gray, 

And dark as hyacinth her hair ; 
No moonlit blossoms of the May 

With her mailed bosom might compare. 
There are no maidens anywhere, 

There have not been, there shall not be 
So brave, so gentle, frank and fair 

As she ! Andrew Lang. 

2. In the following sentences, distinguish between 
transitive and intransitive verbs of action, verbs ex- 
pressing state or condition, verbs of being, and verbs 
as copulas : 

Divine Justice never sleeps. 

Thefts never enrich ; alms never impoverish ; mur- 
der will speak out of stone walls. 

The conscience of the guilty never rests ; in the 
heart of the innocent, there is always peace. 

An honest man is the noblest work of God. 



EXERCISES 6; 

Wherever dawn tints the valley mists with opal 
lights, wherever noon sheds its splendor, or dewy 
twilight reveals the stars : there are miracles arid 
zvonders. 

Wherever we look zvith eyes of love, there is 
beauty. Ruskin. 

While there is life, there is hope. 

Hope springs eternal in the human breast. 

Before any tiling was created, God was. 

No man becomes a saint in his sleep. 

O I may live to be a king 

And wear a crown ofjezvels rare, 

But life can never, never bring 

More gladsome hours, or joys more fair 

Tha?i those I knew in days that were, 

The dear old boyhood days that were. 

3. In the following sentences, change the italicized 
groups of words into single copulas, such as seem, 
look, becorne, etc. 

The sky is dark and gray. The clouds appear to 
be close and heavy. They shed a steady rain upon 
the earth beneath. 

How soft everything gets to be in the rain ! How 
mysterious everything appears to the eye in the misty 
rain ! Houses seem to be masses of shade. People 



68 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

appear to the sight like gray spectres. Not one harsh 
outline continues to exist. 

The air appears to oar feelings soft and balmy. A 
delicious fragrance fills the atmosphere. How pleas- 
ant the patter of the rain sounds on the roof! It 
seems to whisper soft words against the window- 
panes. 

How snug and cozy it feels indoors ! How studi- 
ous we get to be on a rainy day ! 

There is peace and plenty in the rain. There is 
joy to all living things in the gentle rain. 

4. Analyze the first seven declarative sentences in 
the preceding exercise, naming the logical subject 
and predicate, and the grammatical subject and 
predicate with their respective modifiers. If you 
find a transitive verb, name its object ; and if you 
find a predicate-noun, name this also. 

5. Expand the following hints into a fable, en- 
titled, The Fox and the Goat. 

Fox fallen shallow well — deep enough hold him 
prisoner — could not call help ; house near by, 
danger of dogs — sorely puzzled. 

Only few inches water, to him ocean — water not 
cold, to him colder every moment — shivered fear 
and imaginary cold. 

" What do " whisper " no way out? " 



EXERCISES 69 

At last voice above — "feel thirsty, here well, 
below water, quench thirst." 

Then head bend opening well — head goat. 

Sight bring joy fox — Address goat gentlest tones : 
" beautiful look, dear cousin ! glad see you ! delicious 
water here — well not deep — often come drink — 
jump down join me." 

Foolish goat jump, treacherous fox leap on his 
back, bound out well. 



Lesson X 

Auxiliaries } or Helping Verbs 

yohn draws pictures all day. 
He drew many pictures yesterday. 
Who will draw two pictures for me ? 
John may draw them, if you ask him. 
I am sure he can draw them. 



If his father says he shall draw them, he must draw 
them. 

I know he will draw them to-morrow. 
If he has not time, I shall draw them. 

Study these sentences and notice the underlined 
predicate-verbs. 

In the first two sentences, the predicate-verb is a 
single verb, a simple verb-form. 

In all the others, the predicate-verb is made up of 
two verbs. These form a phrase, and because this 
phrase takes the place of a verb, we may call it a 
Verb-Phrase. 

Each of these verb-phrases is made up of the 
principal verb draw and another verb which helps 
to add a new shade of meaning to that of the prin- 
cipal verb. 



AUXILIARIES 71 



These helping-verbs — like the forms of the verb 
Be about which you learned in the last lesson — 
are called Auxiliaries. 

Notice how very helpful they are : May, in the 
fourth sentence, expresses the possibility of John's 
consent to draw; can expresses John's ability to 
draw; must expresses compulsion, that he has to 
draw. 

The auxiliaries shall and will have two different 
shades of meaning, about which you will learn more 
later on. For the present, it will be sufficient for 
you to notice that in the third sentence will means 
is willing, and that in the seventh sentence will 
means is going to. Similarly, in the sixth sentence, 
shall means just about the same as must, and in the 
last sentence it means am going to. 

Might, could, would, and should are other forms of 
may, can, will, and shall. Their use is illustrated in 
the following sentences : 

If I had time, I would help you. 
If I have time, /shall help you. 
You might fall, if you should run too fast. 
What would you do, if your house should take fire ? 
If I had wings, I think I could fly. 
If I had more strength, I could help you. 
Could I do better, //"/should try harder f 
You can do better, if y oil try. 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



EXERCISES 

1. Read or rewrite the following sentences and 
put in place of the italicized phrases the proper 
auxiliary verb (may, can, must, shall, or will). 

My dog Ben is able to find things which I have 
hidden from him. 

What are you going to do when it rains? 

If you are ready, you are permitted to take a walk 
with me. 

Washington said, " I am unable to tell a lie." 

When do you expect to come? 

You are obliged to be more diligent. 

We are allowed to say an ox, but we are forbidden 
to say an cow. 

Why are you willing to spend your time so 
foolishly? 

Whoever wishes to succeed is compelled to work 
hard and steadily. 

By honesty we are sure to gain confidence. 

No one is able to serve two masters. 

2. Change the auxiliary verbs in the following 
proverbial sayings into phrases of equivalent mean- 
ing; thus, You are unable to quench a fire by pouri7ig 
oil on it; or, // is impossible to quench a fire ', etc.; 
instead of, You camiot quench afire, etc. 



EXERCISES 73 

You cannot quench a fire by pouring oil on it. 
You must take time by the forelock. 
One cannot be in two places at once. 
Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee. 
You cannot eat your cake and keep it too. 
You must take the fat with the lean. 
I will have this or nothing. 
An old dog will not learn new tricks. 
A stitch in time will save nine. 
A little leak may sink a great ship. 
It is the early bird that will catch the worm. 
He that will steal a pin may steal a better thing. 
Many hands will make light work. 
Birds of a feather will flock together. 
The bird that can sing and won't sing must be 
made to sing. 

3. Insert properly might, would, could, or should 
in the following: 

The world is so full of a number of things, I am 
sure we all be as happy as kings. 

I rather have a living dog than a dead lion. 

You never be weary of well-doing. 

If wishes were horses, beggars ride. 

Henry Clay said, " I rather be right than 

President." 

You not put the cart before the horse. 



74 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

We learn to forgive and forget. 

I rather have half a loaf than no bread. 

You beware of no one more than of yourself. 

In doing wrong you gain wealth, but you 

lose self-respect. 

You try to fly, but I fear you fall. 

4. Read the following story and observe the mean- 
ing of the auxiliaries : 

THE WHITE MICE 

One rainy day in the fall, an old soldier stopped 
at a little farmhouse in the White Mountains and 
begged for something to eat. 

"Will you come in? " said the kind-hearted farmer. 

" If I may/' said the old soldier. 

"May? Why, of course you may," the farmer 
cried. " And you shall sit down and eat all you 
can. Here is bread, and here is milk, and I shall 
go and get you some meat." 

The old man was so deeply touched that he could 
not keep back his tears of gratitude, and he prayed 
that Heaven would bless the farmer for his goodness 
to the unfortunate. 

"You would be more comfortable if you had that 
heavy box off your back," said the farmer. 

" It is not heavy," the old soldier replied ; n and if 
it were I would not part with it. This box is the 
home of three little creatures that I take care of." 



EXERCISES 75 

Here he removed a ragged piece of oilcloth and 
showed the farmer three white mice. 

"They must be cold and hungry," said the poor 
soldier. "The little things should not be out so long 
in such weather; but I do the best I can for them." 

" Why should you burden yourself at all with 
them? " the farmer asked. " If they were set free 
they could find holes enough in the fields and woods 
to shelter them." 

" As long as I have strength, I will carry them 
with me ; and you shall hear why," said the old 
man, who was giving his mice of the bread and milk 
meant for himself. " These mice belonged to my 
boy, who is dead. He left them in my charge, 
saying, ' You will take care of them if you can.' 
And I have cared for them. But people would not 
have them around in the tailor shops where I worked, 
for tailoring is my trade ; and I could not leave them 
in my room all day without food or drink. One 
tailor after another told me that either I or the mice 
must leave, and so I came away with them. I have 
carried them hundreds of miles, and, if I can, I will 
take them with me to my old home in Germany." 

"Germany!" exclaimed the farmer: "why, you 
could not get to Germany this way if you should 
try forever ! " 

" I shall go from Montreal," said the old man. 
" A friend, who is captain of a ship, will take me." 



76 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

" You could do better here if you would give up 
your mice, like a sensible man," said the farmer. 

" They are a trust," said the old soldier. " I must 
not desert them. If I could be faithful to my coun- 
try when she needed me, can I be faithless to these 
little creatures and to my son, who can no longer 
care for them? " 

It was now the farmer who could scarcely keep 
back his tears ; and the old man's loyalty and sim- 
plicity of heart so pleased him that, after feeding 
and lodging him for a while, he paid his way to 
Montreal, and made him a new and lighter box for 
his three white mice. 

5. Write a composition or story on one of the 
following topics, and see how often you can make 
use of the auxiliaries which you have studied in this 
lesson. 

A girl's garden party where the guests are dolls 
and birds (a story for little ones). 

An imaginary conversation between a woodchuck 
and a rabbit about the good things of summer. 

A white child to live until manhood among the 
Indians and then to return to his people. What he 
might have to tell. The differences he would notice 
between his old surroundings and the new. 



Lesson XI 

Auxiliaries continued 
Read the following sentences : — 

Robins build their nests in our orchard. 
Robins built their nests there last year. 
Robins will build their nests there again. 

Notice that the three sentences assert the same 
thing about robins, but with reference to different 
periods of time. In the first sentence, build asserts 
present action. In the second sentence, built asserts 
action in the past. In the third sentence, will build 
asserts action which is to take place in the future. 

In the first two sentences notice that present and 
past time are shown by simple forms of the verb, 
while in the third sentence action in future time is 
expressed by the addition of the auxiliary will to the 
principal verb, build. 

Now let us examine the following: — 

Robins have built there this year. 

One robin has built there for several seasons. 

Robins had built there before we came. 

Robins will have built there by the time we arrive. 



78 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Notice that the verb in the first two sentences 
represents the action as being completed at the time 
of the assertion. Notice 'also that this completed 
action is expressed by adding the auxiliaries has or 
have to the principal verb. 

Note : Both has and have are forms of the verb 
Have. Has is called the singular form because it 
has as its subject a noun, or noun element, naming 
one thing. Singular means, one thing. Have, on 
the other hand, is the plural form, because it has as 
its subject a noun naming more than one thing. 
Plural means, more than one. 

In the third sentence had built represents the 
action as having already been completed at a certain 
period or point of time in the past; namely, before 
we came. 

In the fourth sentence, will have built shows that 
the action will have been completed at some definite 
period of future time : namely, by the time we arrive. 

Observe that in representing the action as already 
Perfected or completed at some definite future period, 
two auxiliaries are added to the principal verb : the 
auxiliaries will (or shall) to show the futurity of the 
action ; and have to express completed action. 

Now examine the following: — 



AUXILIARIES 79 



The robins are building their nests in our orchard. 

Robins were building their nests in our orchard. 

Robins had been building their nests in our orchard 
before we arrived. 

Robins will be building their nests this coming 
spring. 

Robins will have been building their nests for some 
time when we reach the farm. 



Notice that the verb-phrase are building is equiva- 
lent in meaning to the simple verb, build. The verb- 
phrase, however, differs from the simple verb in that 
it represents the action as progressing, that is, going 
on continuously in present time. Robins build 
might mean, Robins are in the habit of building ; but 
Robins are building shows that the action is taking 
place or progressing at the time of the assertion, that 
is, right now. 

Similarly, Robins were building shows that the 
action was done progressively, or continuously, in 
the past. Robi?is had been building shows that the 
action had been going on progressively up to some 
definite period in the past. Will be building shows 
that the action will be going on continuously in the 
future, and ivill have been building shows that the 
action will have been going on continuously up to 
some definite period of future time. 



80 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Following is a table showing all the tenses of the 
verb Build. 

Present Past 

Simple (, .,, ... 

. . \ build Omit 

predication (. 

Progressive C 

<J are building were building 

action c 

Action C 777., 

. < /to #r /ww #?/z# had built 
completed c 

Completed ( 

progressive < have been building have been building 

action ' 

Future 

Simple predication of ac- ( ... _ ■ , 

will or shall build 
tion to come ( 

Future progressive action { will be building 

Action completed at some 



1 will have built 
definite future period 

Progressive action com- r 

pleted at some definite < will have been building 
future period \ 

Notice in studying this table that have and has are 
used in verb-phrases asserting action completed in 
present time; that had is used in those asserting 
action conipleted 2X some definite period in the past; 
that will or shall have is used to assert action com- 



EXERCJSES 



pleted at some definite future time, and, finally, that 
some form of the verb Be is used in verb phrases 
representing progressive action, whether in present, 
past, or future time. 

NOTE : Sometimes futurity is represented in the 
phrase going to ; as I am going to do it to-morrow, 
etc. 

EXERCISES 

1. The verbs in the following sentences include all 
the time distinctions which you have just studied. 
You are expected to recognize, in each sentence, 
whether present, past, or future time is shown ; 
whether action completed in the present is as- 
serted ; whether action completed at some definite 
period of past or future time is asserted, and whether 
the action is progressive. 

The little river babbles over its rocky bed. Great 
sycamores and maples are throwing their shadows 
over its course. The steep sides of a ravine rise on 
either side. 

The little river has dwindled from a wide and deep 
stream. Forests have grown where once the sea- 
moss waved ; vine-clad houses have risen on the 
bones of sea-reptiles and mammoths, and the laughter 
of children has rung for years where once, fathoms 
down, eterna 1 silence reigned. Church bells have 

6 



82 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

been pealing, anvils have been clanking, and the 
music of industry has been sounding for long 
decades, where great sharks once slept in the river's 
muddy bed. 

How the mighty flood rolled then in majesty to 
the sea ! Its tides shaped the ravine. The boats 
of primitive man sailed on its bosom. The saurian 
hunted on its banks, and the great hairy elephant 
crashed through the forest to drink of its waters. 
There the children now gather wild flowers, and the 
meadow-lark weaves its nest. 

Every year the river was losing power. Its tides 
were growing weaker, and its banks were getting 
steeper. Even the animals and plants on its banks 
were changing with it. 

2. Supply the missing auxiliaries in the remainder 
of the sketch : 

The river . . . flowed for thousands of years be- 
fore man came to build boats and to fish in its 
waters ; and the sun and stars . . . shone upon it 
countless times, before man came to give it a name. 
The great denizens of its forests . . . living master- 
less for aeons, when the first stone-headed arrow 
whistled across its waves and announced that the 
master . . . arrived. 

The little stream . . . one day disappear. It . . . 
still dwindling, long after we are gone, and in other 



EXERCISES 83 

ears its low-voiced song . . . telling of everlasting 
change and ceaseless progress. When we shall . . . 
gone into the infinite, as its waters . . . gone to the 
sea, other races of children . . . gather flowers where 
now its waters run. When the trout and minnows 
. . . left their skeletons in its bed, the arbutus . . . 
wreathe their old homes with its fragrant blossoms 
and cast its roots about their bones. 

But the world . . . revolving for many years by 
the time the little stream disappears for ever. 

3. Tell about the changes in any street or neigh- 
borhood in your town or in the country round about 
you, what it used to be like, what it is like now, and 
what you think it will be like in the future. 

Then read your composition over carefully and 
place one line under each past, two lines under each 
present, and three lines under each future tense-form. 

4. Write a similar composition about something 
with which you are quite familiar. Then read the 
composition over carefully and place one line under 
each tense-form o{ simple predication, two under each 
tense-form of progressive action, and three under each 
tense-form of completed actioii. 



Lesson XII 

Auxiliaries, concluded 

1. How do the children draw? 

2. They draw well. 

3. I see, they do draw quite well. 

4. Do they sing well ? 

5. No, they do not sz/^ well. 

6. They never ^^;^ well; they never did sing 
well. 

Let us look at these sentences together. 

You will notice that in the simple declaration of the 
second sentence the predicate-verb is a simple verb, 
but that in the fifth sentence, in which the declaration 
is made negative by the little word not, the predicate- 
verb is a verb-phrase made up of the principal verb 
sing and the auxiliary do. 

You will notice, too, that similar verb-phrases, 
made up of a principal verb and the auxiliary do are 
used in the first and fourth sentences, which are 
interrogative. 

You will notice, again, that a similar verb-phrase is 
used in the third sentence, tJiey do draw quite well. 
This sentence is declarative, like the second, but it 



AUXILIARIES 85 



declares with greater force, or emphasis, as if it 
meant, " Yes, indeed," or " I assure you, they do 
draw well." 

Under Number 6 there are two sentences. The 
first of these, They never sang well, is a simple 
declaration without emphasis. The second sentence 
contains the same declaration, but with emphasis. 
We find, therefore, in the second sentence, the verb- 
phrase did sing instead of the simple verb sang, which 
is sufficient in the first. 

Thus you see that in interrogative sentences, in 
declarative sentences made negative by the adverb 
not, and in emphatic sentences, we use, instead of 
simple verb-forms, verb-phrases made up with the 
help of the auxiliary do in some of its forms — do, 
does, or did. 

Similar observations apply to negative and emphatic 
forms of imperative and exclamatory sentences, as 
you will see in the following examples : 

Look at the sky. 
Do look at the sky. 
Do not look at the sky. 

How beautiful the sky looks ! 
How beautiful the sky does look / 
How beautiful the sky looked ! 
How beautiful the sky did look ! 
Did not the sky look beautiful ! 



86 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

NOTE: Exceptions are made in many instances 
with the verb be in its simple forms, — am, is, are, 
was, were, — and sometimes with have, has, and had, 
as the following examples will show: Are you well? 
I am not well. How very kind he is ! Has he a 
kite? 

But we do say emphatically, Now please do be 
good. What very fine horses they do have ! Etc. 

EXERCISES 

1. In the following sketch, point out the verb- 
phrases which make emphatic predication, those 
which express negation, and those which are used in 
asking questions. 

How swiftly the schooners do sail, — and how skil- 
fully they are managed ! The fisherman in their oil- 
skins and rubber boots are making ready their mooring 
lines. Do look at the skipper of yonder boat! Yoic 
never did see a sturdier or calmer man. Do you kuoiv 
iv he re he comes from ? Do you not know that the 
schooner's hold is full of cod and halibut ? Did you 
never hear of the Gloucester fishermen ? Look, do 
look at the fleet sailing into Boston ; and just see how 
beautiful the white sails show against the blue sky ! 
And see the buyers on the wharf, — how they run 
about, and how they do shout to the captains of the 
schooners, trying to buy their cargo. Do you not like to 



EXERCISES 87 

see all this movement and bustle f The world has no 
scene more picturesque, and it certainly never did have 
any more interesting. 

2. Supply the needful auxiliaries in the following 
sentences : 

How well you look I 

Life in the open air certainly make one strong 

and healthy. 

you not remember the glorious drive we had last 

summer? 

I enjoyed my winter sports, but I never have 

such fun as we had in the woods. 

■ not the memory of it make you long to be there 

again f 

I zuish school were done, so we might go there 

again, 

3. The predicates of the following sentences con- 
tain simple verbs. Make some of the sentences 
interrogative, some negative, and some emphatic 
by changing the simple verbs into suitable verb- 
phrases. 

How swiftly that electric car goes ! 
It hums like some gigantic bee, 



88 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

How I stared when I first saw one, and how the 
fellows and the girls laughed at me, when I jumped 
away in fright from the first electric car I saw. 

My ! how I jumped! And how Rags (my dog) 
flew up the street! 

I never saw so scared a dog, 

I certainly think that people fancied he was mad. 

You find no such startling things in the country. 

You never lived on a farm, perhaps. 

Then you know nothing of its peace. 

You know nothing of its charms, either. 

How slowly the heavy oxen move. 

A city child never thought, I suppose, of the wonder- 
fid difference between the serene ways of the country 
and the feverish bustle of cities. 

Here, how the whistles shriek ! Hozv the bells 
ring, and how the cabs and teams rattle ! 

There, how sweetly the robin whistles in the mead- 
ows ! How joyously the bobolink sings his clear songs, 
and how quietly the woods and grasses rustle in the 
breeze. 



Lesson XIII 

Pronouns 

LET us compare the following two sets of sen- 
tences : 

1 . Shakespeare is tJie greatest English poet. 
Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon. 
Shakespeare was the son of poor parents. 

2. Shakespeare is t lie greatest English poet. 
He was bom in Stratford-on-Avon. 

He was the son of poor parents. 

You will notice that in the first set of sentences 
the subject, Shakespeare, is repeated three times. In 
the second set, Shakespeare is used as subject only 
in the first sentence; in the remaining sentences, the 
little word he takes the place of the noun. 

You may also notice that in the first set the repe- 
tition of the noun, Shakespeare, makes the form of 
the statements somewhat tiresome. In the second 
set, however, this repetition is avoided by the use of 
the little word he. 

Now observe that this word he has no definite 
meaning in itself, and that it becomes intelligible 



90 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

only by referring it to the noun Shakespeare, for 
which it stands. Because this little word represents, 
or stands for, a noun, it is called a Pronoun. (Pro is 
a Latin word meaning for.) The noun for which 
the pronoun stands is called its Antecedent, because 
it usually precedes, or goes before {ante is a Latin 
word meaning before). 

Pronouns are very important words. They are 
constantly used to avoid the repetition of names or 
nouns. One of them is of especial interest to you, 
because you use it again and again in place of your 
own name. 

If, for instance, your name were Tom, you would 
not say, " Tom likes apples," or "Tom thinks it is a 
fine day," but " / like apples," or " / think it is a 
fine day," using the little pronoun / instead of your 
own name. 

These pronouns show certain distinctions called 
Person: /, we, etc., stand for persons speaking: you, 
thou, etc., for persons spoken to, and he, she, it, they, 
etc., for persons or things spoken of. For this reason 
they are called Personal Pronouns. 

NOTE : A few personal pronouns are no longer used 
in ordinary speech. They are ye, thou, and thee. They 
are still found, however, in the Bible, in some poems, 
and in dignified and impassioned prose. 



PRONOUNS 91 



The personal pronoun it has special interest. This 
pronoun is used in a variety of ways, as you will see 
in the following examples. 

When we say, " Health is a precious boon ; it is 
found in the bright sunlight and in the open air," 
we see at once that the pronoun it takes the place of 
its antecedent, health. 

Now imagine the following: You and your friend 
see some dark object in a tree some distance away. 
You point to this object and ask, " What is that? " 
Your friend answers, "// is a bird." Then you 
notice a little girl looking at this bird and you ask, 
"Who is that looking at the bird?" and your friend 
answers, " It is my sister." 

Here the first it does not stand for any noun ex- 
pressed in the preceding question, but for the word 
thing ox object understood. In the second answer, it 
stands for person or girl understood in the second 
question. 

Lastly, let us study this little word in the sen- 
tences, It is growing dark, It thunders, It lightens, It 
is raining. 

Here it brings up no distinct idea to the mind ; yet 
in each sentence it is clear that the pronoun forms the 
subject of the sentence. Observe, however, that it 
stands for no noun, either expressed or understood. 
It is neither a person nor a thing that thunders or 



92 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

rams, but some unnamed force of nature of which 
we have only a vague idea. 

In such cases, it is still called -& pronoun ; but since 
it does not stand for any known or named person or 
thing, it is called an Impersonal Pronoun. 

Note: In such sentences as // pays to be honest 
It is good to be pure, the word it is a mere word-form 
and, therefore, does not take the place of any other 
word or word-group, but serves only to make the pay- 
ing quality of honesty, and the good quality of being 
pure, more prominent and emphatic. It has the same 
use in many similar sentences, such as, It is pleasant 
to ride. It is better to be happy than rich, etc. 

EXERCISES 

1. Read the following anecdote carefully, and pre- 
pare yourself to name the personal pronouns and 
their antecedents. 

/ remember an interesting anecdote told by Thoreau. 
He was a great lover of nature, and she seemed to love 
him in return, for she revealed to him many secrets 
hidden from the majority of men. 

Once he went into the zvoods with a party of friends. 
As usual with him, he wore old and common clothes, 
while they had on the best they could afford. " I 
thought,'' writes Thoreau, " that they were a little 
ashamed of me while we ivere in town!' But in the 



EXERCISES 93 

woods they tore their Ji?ie clothes, and when they came 
out he was the best dressed of the party, and had good 
cause to be ashamed of them. 

2. Point out the personal pronouns in the follow- 
ing. Be careful not to confuse words expressing 
possession with personal pronouns. Do your best to 
recognize the old or obsolete forms of the pronouns. 

A SEA FIGHT 

Would you hear of an old-time sea fight? 

Would you learn who won by the light of the moon and 

stars ? 
List to the yam as my grandmother' 's father the sailor 

told it to me. 

Our foe was no skulk in his ship, I tell you, {said he). 
His was the surly English pluck, and there is no tougher 

or truer, and never was, and never will be. 
Along the lowered eve he came horribly raking us. 
We closed with him ; the yards entangled ; the cannon 

touched : 
My Captain lashed fast with his own hands. 

******** 
Our frigate takes fire, 
The other asks if we demand qtiarter f 
If our colors are struck and the fighting done? 
Now I laugh content, for I Jiear the voice of my little 

Captain — 



94 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

We have not struck, he composedly cries, 
We have just begun our part of the fighting* 

Serene stands the little Captain ; 

He is not hurried, his voice is neither high nor low, 

His eyes give more light to us than our battle-lanterns. 

Toward twelve there in the beams of the moon, they 
surrender to us. Walt Whitman. 

Thou, O World, how wilt thou secure thyself against 
this man {the man of genius) ? Thou canst not hire 
him by thy guineas ; nor by gibbets and law-pe7ialties 
restrain him. He eludes thee like a spirit. Thou 
canst not forward him, thou canst not hinder him. 

Carlyle. 

/;/ having all things and not Thee, what have If 
Not having Thee, what have my labors got f 
Let me enjoy but Thee, what further crave If 
A?id having Thee alone, what have I not f 
/ wish nor sea nor land ; nor would I be 
Possessed of heaven, heaven unpossessed of Thee! 

Hail to thee, blithe spirit 7 

Bird thou never wert, 
That from heaven or near it, 

Pour est thy full heart 
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. 



EXERCISES 95 

Higher still and higher 

From the earth thou springest : 
Like a cloud of fire 

The blue deep thou wingest. 
And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest. 

Shelley. 

3. In the following sketch, study the force of the 
pronoun it, and prepare yourself to state in which 
sentences it is personal and in which it is impersonaL 

It was arranged that we should have an excursion 
next day. We rose at dawn. It was a beautiful 
morning. The sun was rising over the tree-tops, and 
it made us impatient to be off. 

At last we started. Hoiv deligJitful it was to be on 
our way ! 

About noon we reached a beautif id grove. By this 
time it was very hot. The sun was directly over our 
heads, and it became necessary for us to seek the 
shade. 

Suddenly it grew dark. It began to rain ! My, 
how it did rain ! Then it blew, and soon it thun- 
dered. It seemed that our excursion was to be spoiled. 

But in a little while it cleared off. It grew cooler 
and fresher. The colors were deeper everywhere, and 
they added a new beauty to the day. 

It was now time to eat, and we had a fine luncheon. 

When we readied home, it was growing dark. 



9° THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

4. Change the following sentences by using it as 
an impersonal pronoun, to introduce the sentence, or 
to emphasize some of its elements. 

To suffer wrong is better than to do wrong. 

I hear thunder. 

That an idle pupil should fail is not strange. 

The fire is the thing I dread. 

To see you stiff er hurts me. 

A gale blows. 

I am sure that the person 1 saw was John. 

Matty years have passed since I saw you. 

Columbus was the man who discovered America* 

To-day is very cold. 

That people shot/Id love a good man is natural. 

To tell the trttth is only right. 

I was the person who watched all nigltt. 

The man who founded Rome was Romulus. 

Snow is coming doivn. 

To deny a fact is useless. 

You are tlie very one I want to see. 

The richest are not always the most generous. 

Hail has cotne down. 

To obey one's parents is right. 

To be through with this lesson pleases me. 



EXERCISES 97 

Now let us compare the following sets of sentences : 

a. This ship has returned after a profitable voyage. 
She sailed last year. Her sides are now weather- 
beaten. They were gay then with briglit paint. Her 
captain is glad to see his native land once more. He 
is standing ruddy and strong at the wheel. Those 
people on the shore are his friends. They are waving 
to him. 

b. This ship, which sailed last year, has returned 
after a profitable voyage. Her sides, which were then 
gay with bright paint, are now weather-beaten. Her 
captain, who is standing at the wheel, ruddy and strong, 
is glad to see his native land once more. Those people 
on the shore that are waving to him, are his friends. 

You will notice that in set b the eight sentences of 
set a have been reduced to four sentences. You will 
notice, too, that by this the sketch has gained much 
in clearness and is more pleasing. 

This change is made by means of the little words 
who, which, and that. These take the places of 
nouns previously expressed and are, therefore, Pro- 
nouns. Thus, in the first sentence of set b, which 
stands for its antecedent, ship ; and in the last sen- 
tence, that stands for its antecedent, people. 

You will notice also that in the first sentence of 
set b, the word-group or clause — The ship has re- 

7 



98 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

turned after a profitable voyage — makes complete 
sense in itself, and that it is therefore the principal 
clause or word-group of the sentence. 

The other part — which sailed last year — depends 
for its meaning on the principal clause to which it is 
related by the pronoun which. For this reason such 
pronouns {which, who, and that) are called Relative 
Pronouns. 

Notes : I. The relative pronoun who has three 
forms, who, whose and whom. 

Who is always the subject of the clause in which 
it occurs : The boys who are playing in the yard are 
my friends. 

Whose shows possession or limitation : The girls 
whose friends are waiting have returned. 

Whom stands for a noun which, if expressed, would 
be the object of a transitive verb or of some little 
words like to, in, on, over, etc., which are called prep- 
ositions (see page 139): The man whom he saved 
was his father. The child to whom you gave your 
toys is happy. 

II. Other relative pronouns you will find in the 
following sentences : 

As : His conduct was not such as it had been for- 
merly. Here such stands for of the kind and as 
stands for which. 



EXERCISES 99 

In this sentence the words it had been may be 
omitted, making the sentence read, His conduct was 
not stick as formerly. In the sentence, Things are not 
the same now, as (they were) then., the same stands 
for tlie same tilings, as stands for that, and they were 
may be omitted. 

But : There is not one of us but will obey. 

Here but stands for who not (who will not obey). 

Be careful to remember that as, but and that are 
not always relative pronouns, but are also used as 
joining words. Example : He came as I went. As 
beautiful as spring. He went, but I remained. I 
hope thai he will come. 

What : / know what you mean. 

Here what stands for the thing which. It includes 
both the relative pronoun which and its antecedent 
thing. 

Sometimes who and whom are used in the same 
way. In Who steals my purse steals trash, the word 
who stands for the person who. In Whom the gods 
would destroy they first make mad, whom stands for 
the perso7i (or persons) whom. 

3. Who, whom, which and what are sometimes 
combined with ever or soever for the sake of empha- 
sis : Whoever does his duty will be honored. In what- 
ever you do, do your best. 



IOO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

III. The antecedents of relative pronouns are usu- 
ally nouns or pronouns, but we often find entire 
word-groups as their antecedents. Thus, We tramped 
on snow-shoes through a strange country, which was a 
risky thing to do. Here the antecedent of which is 
the entire sentence, We tramped on snow-shoes through 
a strange country. 

IV. Who, whose, whom and what are used also to 
introduce questions: Who is here? Whose book is 
lost? Whom do you see ? What do you wish? In 
these cases they are called Interrogative Pronouns. 

V. For other kinds of Pronouns see Part II. 

EXERCISES 

1. Point out in the following anecdote relative and 
interrogative pronouns, and determine the antece- 
dents of relative pronouns : 

ANGELO AND THE SHOEMAKER 

Michael Angelo once created a work of art, a 
statue, which he considered perfect. The crowds 
that thronged the hall in which the statue was ex- 
hibited were loud in their praise of the work, whose 
beauty, they said, was unsurpassed by any statue that 
they had ever seen. 

Among the persons whom the fame of the work 
had attracted, there was an old shoemaker. He 



EXERCISES 101 



stood long before the statue and examined it criti- 
cally, which caused many persons to observe him. 

Finally some one asked him : " What do you think 
of the statue? " He answered : " It is faulty." 

Many of the people who heard him were indignant 
at the criticism which the shoemaker had uttered 
about the work of a man whose fame was so wide. 

Angelo's feeling about the shoemaker's words was 
not the same as that of his admirers. He knew that 
such a man as the shoemaker, to whom the statue 
appeared imperfect, might be more honest in his 
praise or his criticism than such people as his 
fashionable friends. 

He stepped forth from the group that surrounded 
him, and addressed the shoemaker: "Who are you, 
my friend ? " 

" Sir," answered the shoemaker, " I am only a 
poor cobbler whose name is of little importance." 

" But will you please tell me what is faulty in the 
statue?" asked Angelo. 

" Certainly," said the shoemaker, pointing to the 
feet of the figure. " There is not a cobbler in town but 
would be ashamed to turn out shoes such as these." 

Angelo examined the shoes, saw their imperfec- 
tions, took up a hammer and destroyed the work 
that had cost him so much labor. 

His friends were amazed. They said : " There is 
not one of us but considered it perfect, the same as 



102 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

your other works in quality, and yet you have broken 
it because of an old cobbler's criticism, which is an 
action we cannot understand. The shoe which was 
faulty was, after all, only a trifle." 

" Who does great things," said one, " need pay 
small heed to trifles." 

"Ah," said Angelo, " it is trifles that make perfec- 
tion, and perfection is no trifle." 

2. Complete the following by supplying suitable 
relative pronouns in the place of the dashes : 

One morning in fall, is to many a delightful 

season, a little boy father had given him a rifle, 

went to the woods with his father's hired man. 

There is scarcely any country boy knows 

how to handle a gun, and few of them take 

much delight in hunting. But the boy father 

had given him the rifle, was one to hunting was 

a new experience. 

The hired man, however, was a skilled and 

eager sportsman, stole through the woods like an 

Indian scout. He led the boy over hills crests 

were covered with spruce and hemlock ; he guided 

him by lonely mountain lakes silence is eternal 

except for the wild laughter of the loon and the 
weird cry of the owl, or the sad voice of the winds 
stir the branches of the great pines. They 



EXERCISES 103 

tramped through the valleys ; they crept into clear- 
ings had once been the site of homes, long 

since abandoned ; they clambered over huge trunks 

the wind had blown down ; they wandered by 

brooks ran with silver music to join the far off 

river; but not a rabbit nor a partridge nor deer did 
they find. 

The boy the long tramp had tired, but to 

the beauty of the woods was a rich reward for 

the hardships of the trip, sat down with the hired 

man on a moss-covered rock to eat the lunch 

his mother had put up for them. 

Just as they had finished, a dear little chipmunk 
had smelled their food, came leaping towards 



them, his beautiful eyes wide with wonder and inno- 
cence and trust. His whole attitude seemed to say : 
" I 'm not afraid, and I Ve come to eat all the 

goodies you have thrown on the ground." A 

band of chickadees had been watching them 

from the pines, came hopping after them : and these 

were soon followed by two gray squirrels home 

was near by. 

" Now," said the hired man, " here is our chance 

for the sport we have been seeking. Watch me 

kill the gray squirrels." 

He reached out for his gun, but the boy sprang to 
his feet. " Don't touch them ! " he cried. " They 
trust us, and I love them." 



104 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

There was something in the boy's voice made 

the man hesitate. He lowered his gun he had 

already raised, and said to the boy, half in reproach 
and half in gratitude: "If everybody was the same 
you, there would be little shooting of game." 

The boy's mother to the hired man told this 

story, was prouder of her boy for his kindness than 
if he were the greatest shot in the world. 



v 



Lesson XIV 

Modifiers 

Read the following sentences carefully: 

The mild air brings babes and lambs out of doors. 

Soft winds blow over the waking violets. 

The warm sunlight sheds glory on the world. 

Busy birds are building snug nests. 

Hear the sweet songs in the orchards. 

Snowy buds are opening in the gardens. 

It is May. 

If you take a walk in the country on a morning in 
May, these are some of the sounds and sights that 
will come to you. If the morning happens to be 
very bright, and if the birds are singing merrily as 
they build their little homes among the green leaves 
and the lovely blossoms of the apple and pear trees, 
you will never afterwards be able to think of a bright 
morning in May without having in your mind a 
picture of golden light, green buds and grasses, and 
snowy blossoms flushed with pink. Should you 
wish to paint your mind-picture of such a scene on 
canvas or paper, you would use certain colors, — 
white for the blossoms, with a touch of pink ; green 
for the buds and grasses, and the brightest yellow for 
the sunlight, though if you had gold to paint it with, 



106 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

you might use that, just as the old artists of Italy 
used it when they wished to place a halo of golden 
light around the head of the Christ-Child or His 
mother. 

Now, as you use certain colors and forms in paint- 
ing to present certain objects of nature to the eye, 
so in describing anything in speech or writing we 
use certain words which have the power of giving 
character to the scene or object described. 

These descriptive words are joined to nouns and 
serve to modify them, i. e., they change their mean- 
ing and make the mind-picture for which they stand 
more life-like and impressive. They are called ad- 
jectives, from a Latin word, adjectivas, which means 
joined to, in this case joined to a noun. 

Let us examine some of the nouns and adjectives 
used in the little sketch at the head of this lesson 
Air, wind, sunlight, birds, nests. These things may 
be met with everywhere. They are common to all 
places and all seasons, and their meaning is not 
limited to any particular kind of air, wind, sunlight, 
birds, or nests. But when we speak of the mild air, 
soft winds, the warm sunlight, busy birds, the sweet 
songs, and snowy buds, we modify the meaning of 
each noun by making it refer to some particular kind 
of the thing named. 



EXERCISES 107 

Each one of these adjectives adds some quality 
to the idea for which the noun stands ; and by the 
addition of this quality the idea is distinguished from 
the ideas of other things of the same class, and is 
rendered more life-like and impressive. 

EXERCISES 

1. In order to realize this more fully, you may 
read or write the little sketch at the head of this 
lesson, omitting the adjectives, and noting the effect 
upon the sketch. 

You will have noticed by this time that all these 
adjectives describe in some way the nouns with which 
they are joined. 

2. Study the following sentences, and then point 
out orally the descriptive adjectives and the nouns 
which they describe. 

A faithful friend is better than gold. 

Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire 
them, and wise men use them. 

Fine behavior is a joy in life. 

Some people have beautiful faces and fine bodies, 
but poor minds. They are like some houses that have 
magnificent entrances leading into the dingy rooms of 
a poor cottage. 

A lie has long, swift legs. 

A wise man does at once what a foolish man puts off. 



108 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

. . . when winter comes, 

We burn old wood, and read old books that wall 

Our biggest room, and take our heartiest walks 

On the good, hard, glad ground. 

Leigh Hunt. 

Noble qualities make noble men and noble women. 

It was in that mellow season of the year 

When the hot sun tinges the yellow leaves 

Till they are gold. * * * 

I found the fresh rhodora in the woods, 

Spreading its leafless blossoms in a damp nook, 

To please the desert and the sluggish brook. 

The purple petals fallen in the pool 

Made the black water with their beauty gay. 

Emerson. 

Turner, the great painter, could endure ugliness 
which no one else of the same sensibility could have 
borne with for an instant: dead brick walls, bleak 
square windows, old clothes : anything fishy or muddy 
like Billingsgate or Hungerford had great attractions 
for him, — black barges, patched sails, and every 
possible condition of fog. Ruskin. 

3. Copy the last three examples, and underline 
the descriptive adjectives. 

4. Expand the following sketch into a vivid pic- 
ture, using suitable adjectives: 



EXERCISES 109 

An . . . sparrow built a . . . nest in the old tin 
shade of an electric light which was no longer used. 
He and his . . . mate were comfortably settled, and 
in course of time they had a . . . family of . . . 
sparrows. 

One day a . . . arc-light was put into the . . . 
shade. At night it blazed forth. You can imagine 
how surprised the . . . sparrows were. The parents 
carried their . . . ones to a . . . place, where their 
sleep would not be disturbed. 

NOTES : Be careful in using adjectives to say just 
what you mean. Do not say aivful or terrible, when 
you mean merely uncomfortable or ugly. Be careful, 
too, in the use of the adjectives lovely, nice, perfect, 
curious, elegant, splendid, immense, abominable and 
others of similar meaning. 

Awful means full of awe. Terrible means inspir- 
ing terror. Yet many people speak of a thing as 
" awfully nice " ; and of being " terribly tired." 

When the Hebrew prophets saw the anger of God 
in the heavens, and when the ancient Greeks imagined 
that the thunder was the voice of Zeus, or Jove, they 
spoke of them as " awful " or " terrible." Is it not 
absurd, then, to say of a child who has rumpled his 
hair and his clothes that he looks awful or terrible ? 

Make your words say exactly what you mean. 



Lesson XV 

Modifiers continued 

In the last lesson, you became familiar with de- 
scriptive adjectives and their use as modifiers of 
nouns. This new lesson will enable you to study 
another kind of adjectives as modifiers of nouns. 
Some of this latter kind of adjectives are used in the 
right-hand column of the following sentences : 

Gold is bright. This old gold is rusty. 

Plants have life. Sojue plants are shrubs. 

Winter is cold. Last winter was quite mild. 

Memories fade. These happy memories will 

never fade. 
Disease is troublesome. Many diseases are fatal. 
Trees afford shade. The tall trees wave in the 

wind. 
Friends are dear. A friend in need is a friend 

indeed. 

Notice that the sentences in the left-hand column 
express facts which are universally true. Then ob- 
serve how, in the right-hand column, the meaning of 
these statements is changed by the addition of the 
underlined modifiers. 



EXERCISES 1 1 1 



Notice, too, that these modifiers do not describe 
the nouns before which they are placed. They 
merely limit the application of them to particular 
things which the nouns name. In the first sentence 
of the right-hand column, it is this particular gold 
that is rusty, not gold in general ; in the second 
sentence it is some plants, not all plants, that are 
shrubs. 

These adjectives are, therefore, called limiting ad- 
jectives. They limit by confining the application of 
the noun to something particular that we are think- 
ing of (the, some), or by adding to the noun the idea 
of location {this, that), or of quantity {much, little), 
or of number {many, few, three). 

NOTE: A few of the adjectives included in this 
class are not really limiting. This is the case with 
the adjective all. In the sentence, All men are 
mortal, the adjective all, instead of limiting the 
meaning of the noun men to some particular men, 
rather emphasizes the universality of the statement, 
Men are mortal. 

EXERCISES 

1. Read carefully the following sentences, and 
prepare yourself to point out the limiting adjectives 
and to state in what way they limit the nouns before 
which they are placed. 



112 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Men are born with two eyes and one tongue, in 
order that they should see twice as much as they 
tell. But some men seem to have been born with two 
tongues and only one eye, for though they see little, 
they talk much. 

Some memories are like leaky buckets. 

There is one pursuit in life in which every man 
may succeed, — the pursuit of gold. 

We must remember that we have a great work to do, 
many enemies to conquer, many evils to prevent, much 
danger to run through, many difficulties to be mastered, 
many necessities to be served, and much good to do. 

Robins fly north in early spring. This merry robin 
lives in our orchard. His pretty mate is in the apple- 
tree. The two birds reared four young robins last 
year. These little birds soon learned how to fly. That 
old tree yonder was their playground. Those spark- 
ling pools were their bathing places. 

Every robin gathers twigs for the nest. Some birds 
build neater nests and sing sweeter songs, but the 
robin is loved as zvell as any bird for his good cheer. 
Few birds having the robins' fine strains of music 
are so free with their melody. How much gladness 
would be lost to the world, if the robin were not a 
co7istant visitor ! 



EXERCISES 113 



NOTE : You will notice in the above sketch of the 
robin some words — our, his, their — that limit the 
meaning of the nouns before which they are placed. 
These do the work of adjectives in so far as they 
limit the application of the nouns they accompany. 
But they are called pronouns, because they stand for 
the names of persons or things {pro means for). The 
pronouns in the above examples are called possessive 
pronouns, because they indicate possession or owner- 
ship, thus, — our orchard, his mate, their playground. 
Other words of the same class are my, her, its, and 
your. 

2. Copy the sketch of the robin in the previous 
exercise, and place one line under each descriptive 
adjective, two lines under each limiting adjective, 
and three lines under each possessive pronoun. 

3. Write a brief sketch of some observation you 
have made of the life of some bird or insect, or some 
familiar animal ; of something you have observed in 
the work of a farmer or artisan ; or something you 
have seen in the country or in the city ; or of some 
interesting incident in your own life. 

Then underline the limiting and descriptive words, 
as in Exercise 2. 



In writing your sketch, select your descriptive 

adjectives carefully. Remember that the purpose 

8 



114 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

of your description is to inform or entertain some 
one, not for your own pleasure alone. Therefore, 
the better your descriptive words are used, the 
nearer the person reading your composition will 
come to seeing things as you saw them, and to 
enjoying them as you enjoyed them. 

4. Make the following description complete by 
supplying appropriate adjectives. 

A Deserted House. — It was once a mansion, 

standing amid lawns that sloped gently to the 



river. Flowers of every hue bloomed in its garden, and the 
pillars of its veranda were wreathed with the wista- 
ria, whose blossoms made the house every spring. 

The owner was a merchant, and as he liked to give 

parties to his friends, there was always to be found 

in his home, summer or winter, a party of men 

and women. 

A city has sprung up about the old mansion. 

streets, echoing by day to hundreds of teams, have been 

built over the lawns. warehouses tower on every 

side of the old mansion, and the river, once so pure and 
gentle, is now and with smoke of steam- 
ships and factories. The woodwork is everywhere and 

. The window-panes are and , and when the 

wind blows, the shutters rattle dismally. The 

house looks like a man who has seen days, but 

who, in his age, has been deserted and left to decay in 

company. 



Lesson XVI 

Modifiers continued. Adverbs 

In the last two lessons, you learned that nouns 
may be modified by the addition of descriptive and 
limiting adjectives. 

In this lesson we shall find that, in a similar way, 
verbs may be modified by descriptive and qualifying 
words. These, because they are added to verbs, are 
called adverbs. 

NOTE: Adverb is made up of two Latin words, — 
ad, meaning to, and verbnm, meaning a word, — the 
verb being called the word because it is looked upon 
as the principal word of the sentence, expressing or 
asserting our ideas and judgments of things. 

Let us study some of the adverbs in the following 
sentences : 

The brooks are singing to-nigJit. 
The wind murmurs gently. 
The moonlight gleams brightly. 
Beanty reigns everywhere. 

In the first sentence, The brooks are singing 
to-night, the verb-phrase are singing is modified by 



Il6 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

the adverb to-night, which restricts the action of 
singing to a particular time. 

Similarly, in the second sentence, The wind mur- 
murs gently, the adverb gently modifies the verb 
murmUrs by telling how, or in what manner, the 
wind murmurs. 

The same is true 1 of the adverb brightly, which in 
the third sentence modifies the meaning of the verb 
gleams. 

In the last sentence, Beauty reigns everywhere ^ the 
adverb everywhere modifies the verb reigns by indi- 
cating the p la ce where beauty reigns. 

We have thus far discovered three kinds of ad- 
verbs, telling, respectively, when, where, and how 
actions take place. These we may therefore classify 
as adverbs of time, place, and manner. 

In the following sentence, the three adverbs repre- 
sent all these classes : 

The moonlight gleams brightly everywhere to-night. 

Now let us study the force of still another kind of 
adverbs. 

Wherever we look we find different degrees of the 
same qualities. We say that the sky is blue, but 
sometimes it is deeply blue. Sometimes we are 
kind ; at other times we are very kind. Some men 
are strong, and others are very strong. We may 



MODIFIERS 117 



often hear people exclaim, " How very beautiful ! " 
or, " How extremely sad ! " in order to show that the 
beauty that impresses them or the sadness which 
touches them, is beautiful or sad to an unusual 
degree. 

You will notice that there is a similar qualifying 
force in the underlined adverbs of the following 
sentences: 

The brooks are murmuring very quietly to-night. 

The gentle winds sing so peacefully. 

How very brightly the moonlight shines ! 

The night is so fair and marvelously beautiful. 

In each of these sentences, the underlined adverb 
increases or emphasizes the force of the adverb or 
adjective with which it is placed. It shows that in 
the thought-picture a marked degree of force is 
placed on the qualities expressed in the adjective or 
adverb which it modifies. 

Such adverbs are called adverbs of degree. They 
are always placed as qualifiers before adjectives, or 
other adverbs, or before phrases doing the work of 
adjectives or adverbs. 

Let us now sum up what we have discovered in 
this lesson. 

I. Words that modify verbs by expressing time, 
place, or manner, are called Adverbs. These are 



Il8 THE EXGLISH LANGUAGE 

classified as adverbs of time, adverbs of place, and 
adverbs of manner. 

2. Adverbs of degree are similar words modifying 
adjectives or other adverbs, or phrases doing the 
work of adjectives or adverbs. 

Frequently we use, instead of single adverbs, 
word -groups that do the same work as adverbs. 
Thus, instead of saying, Beauty reigns everywhere, 
we may say, Beauty reigns in every place. In every 
place is a word-group or phrase that does the same 
work as the adverb of place, everywhere ■, and is, 
therefore, called an adverbial phrase of place. 

Similar adverbial phrases occur in the following 
sentences : We rambled in the wood all flight. A 
hungry owl called to us in warning tones. We an- 
swered mockingly from time to time. 

EXERCISES 

1. Read carefully the following sketch, and point 
out the adverbs and adverbial phrases. 

We went yesterday to ramble in the wood. The 
weather was very beautiful, the sky being deeply blue, 
and the sunlight giving generously of its glory to every- 
thing great and small. 

About the middle of the wood zve stopped to rest. 
The ground was thickly covered with the leaves of 



EXERCISES 119 

many autumns, and it made a very eomfortable resting 
place. 

While we were quietly enjoying the luxury of our 
forest couch, the silence was suddenly broken by a plain- 
tive little call — a very plaintive little call ; and pres- 
ently we saw a diminutive visitor hopping briskly 
along toward us. 

As he came, he cocked his head and examined us 
with an extremely bright eye, in a comically inquisitive 
way, and he seemed to be deeply interested in us. It 
may be that we appeared to him very strange and out- 
landish creatures, lying on the ground without wings, 
without feathers, and zvithout visible means of support 
in the way of beaks and claws. 

" Chick-a-dee-dee," the tiny fellow called in a scolding 
mamier, and in a little while his call was answered by 
a chorus of u chick-a-dces" ringing from every side; 
and soon a flock of those lovable and neighborly mites 
were hopping and tumbling and scolding joyously 
around us. 

We remained there to watch them until the deepening 
shadows of the woodlands a7id the serenely joyous song 
of the vesper-sparrow warned us of the approaching 



2. Copy the following sketch and underline the 
adverbs and adverbial phrases. Prepare yourself at 
the same time to state in what way each adverb 



120 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

and adverbial phrase modifies the word to which it 
belongs. 

Hogarth had a very remarkable gift which he sedu- 
lously cidtivated. With great care he would commit to 
memory the precise features of exceptionally strange 
faces. Afterwards he woidd reproduce them on paper. 
Sometimes he would sketch such a face oti his thumb- 
nail and carry it home to work out at his leisure. 

Everything fantastical and original attracted him 
powerfully, and he often wandered into out-of-the-way 
places in order to study closely some unusually s'trange 
character. 

In this way he learned to portray character more 
truthfully and strikingly than any other artist living 
at his time. 

3. In the following sentences modify the predicate 
by supplying suitable adverbial modifiers. 

Observe that we have selected as subjects things 
familiar to you. Now these things have each some 
peculiar manner of acting, and some particular time 
for appearing, and some favorite place where they are 
usually to be found. 

Ask yourself thoughtfully whether the predicate 
needs a word or a word-group to tell the time, place 
or manner, and whether an adverb of degree is re- 
quired to show that there is a difference between the 



EXERCISES 121 

qualities of actions. A dog, for instance, runs fast ; 
a race horse runs very fast. Some brooks are shal- 
low ; others are very shallow. 

The owl hunts . . . Thunder roars . . . Cats like 
to lie . . . Glass should be handled . . . Sharp tools 
should also be handled . . . Every lesson must be 
mastered . . . If you do not understand it at once, 
read it . . . 

An express train travels . . . ; but it goes . . . 
compared with lightning. . . . the sky is dark. Be- 
fore a thunder-storm, the sky is . . . dark. If . . . 
you don't succeed, try, try . . . 

4. The twelve sentences in the series below are 
made up of bare grammatical subject and predicate. 
Expand these sentences by use of adjective and adver- 
bial modifiers, as in the two following examples: 

Clouds rise. The morning clouds rise gradually 

from the eastern shades. 

Rain falls. The silver rain falls softly every- 

where. 

Swallows come. They build. They twitter. They 
dart. 

Winds grow. Leaves turn. Holidays end. Swal- 
lows leave. They fly. Summer is over. Autumn 
comes. Barns are deserted. 



Lesson XVII 

Adjectives and Adverbs Compared 
Compare the following two sets of sentences : 

A. The bobolink sings beautifully. 

His music is poured rapturously over the meadows. 

Some people think that he sings as gloriously as 
the skylark. 

The bobolink is dressed gorgeously in black and 
gold. 

B. The bobolink has a beautiful song. 

His rapturous music is poured over the meadows. 

Some people think that his song is as glorious as 
the skylark's. 

The bobolink has a gorgeous dress of black and 
gold. 

Observe that the adjectives and the adverbs in 
these two sets of sentences serve the same purpose : 
namely, to modify the words to which they are 
joined. Thus the adverb beautifully in the first set 
describes the singing of the bobolink, just as the 
adjective beautiful in the second set describes its 
song. 



ADJECTIVES AAD ADVERBS 123 

Observe also that the adverbs in the first set are 
formed from the corresponding adjectives by the 
addition of ly. 

When a syllable of this kind is added to the end of 
a word, it is called a suffix, from the Latin suffixus, 
which means fastened-to, or added-to. 

The suffix /y is the modern form of the old English 
word lie = like ; so that beautifully means beautiful- 
like = in a manner full of beauty ; and gorgeously 
means, like a gorgeous thing = in a gorgeous 
manner. 

Most adverbs of manner and a few others are 
formed in this way from adjectives, as quickly, softly, 
purely, innocently. 

Adjectives ending \w y, however, change this y into 
i before adding ly, as happily, merrily, gaudily. 

But gay, dry, shy, sly, and coy make gayly, dryly, 
shyly, slyly, and coyly. 

Adjectives ending in le simply change the e into y ; 
as gently \ humbly, miserably, doubly. Whole makes 
zvholly. 

Due and true make duly and truly. 

Some words are used both as adjectives and ad- 
verbs. Fast and hard, used in the exercise below, 
are of this class. We say The boy is a fast runner 
and also The boy runs fast. Similarly, The men are 
hard workers, and The men work hard. 



124 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

NOTE: The adverb hardly differs in meaning from 
the adverb hard, as you will see by comparing the fol- 
lowing sentences, John works hard, and John hardly 
works or can hardly be expected to work. 

EXERCISE 

Turn some of the nouns in the following sen- 
tences into verbs, and the adjectives modifying them 
into adverbs, as in the following example : He is 
a fast runner and a rapid reader. He runs fast and 
reads rapidly. 

The American troops were hard fighters. Their 
officers were skilful leaders. The action of the Eng- 
lish in underrating the Colonial forces was foolish. 
The fighting of the Americans was fast and furious. 

The conduct of the men of Concord was noble and 
glorious. They were firm believers in the cause of 
liberty. Their devotion to their cause was deep and 
strong. They were stout fighters in upholding it, and 
most generous givers in supporting it. 

A grievous wrong had been done the people. A 
tyrant had made the foolish attempt to enslave them. 
But resolute opposition met him, and utter defeat came 
to his ci 



ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS 125 



We must still examine a few special cases in which 
adverbs of manner are formed from adjectives other- 
wise than by the addition of ly or y. 

The most important of these special forms are 
well, ill y fast, hard, right, and wrong. 

Of hard and fast we have already spoken, and 
found that they were used both as adjectives and as 
adverbs, but usually with different shades of meaning. 
The same is true of the others, as you will see in the 
following sentences : John is well again. He does all 
things well. He is well ahead in his lessons. He was 
ill for many days. We fared ill on our trip. You 
started right, but you are wrong now. He is the right 
man, but yore treated him wrong. 

In some writers, especially poets, we find adverbs 
of degree without the suffix ly, as in the following: 
How wonderful sweet you sing ! In wondrous merry 
mood. They were exceeding good. This liberty, how- 
ever, is not admissible in ordinary speech. 

We frequently have occasion to use sentences in 
which the adverbs serve not only to modify the 
verb, but also to describe the subject. In these 
cases, we always use the adjective form without the 
suffix ly. 

Thus in the sentence He looks bad, the word bad 
serves a double purpose. As an adverb, it shows 
how he looks, and as an adjective it describes the 



126 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

subject. The moon shines bright, and The wind blows 
soft and low, illustrate the same point. 

Some of the adjectives that are used adverbially in 
this way, usually with verbs of looking, seeming, tast- 
ing t feeling, and other intransitive verbs of similar 
character, are bad, good, sweet, sour, hard, soft, rough, 
smooth, high, low, bright, dull, loud and many others. 
Frequently these words in such sentences are con- 
strued as predicate-adjectives. Thus in the sentence, 
The moon looks zvhite, we do not mean that it looks 
in a white ma7i7ier, but rather that it looks to be white. 



Some adverbs of time formed from nouns by 
the addition of the suffix ly require attention. 
Hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly are of this 
class. These adverbs are also used as adjectives. 
Thus, in His monthly salary is fifty dollars, monthly 
is an adjective; but in He is paid monthly, monthly is 
an adverb. 

The adverb of degree, very, which is so much used 
as a modifier of adjectives, is sometimes used as an 
adjective. Thus, in He is the very man I want to see, 
very is an adjective, meaning veritable. Also in the 
expressions, the very thing, the very day, it is an 
adjective meaning exact. 



ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS 127 

Besides expressing the ideas of Time, Place, De- 
gree, and Manner, Adverbs express other important 
ideas, as you will see in the following sentences : 

After his master's death the faithful dog always 
visited his grave. He frequently remained there all 
through the night, and so his master's friends decided 
to take him away. Accordingly, they went to the 
grave with tempting food. It was too late. They 
found only the faithful animal's dead body. 

Let us examine the italicized adverbs. Frequently 
expresses time, not in a general sense, but with the 
meaning how many times, and therefore it tells of 
Repeated Acts. So expresses cause, or reason. It 
tells why the master's friends decided to take the 
dog away, and therefore it modifies the verb decided 
by expressing Cause. Accordingly has the same force 
and meaning as so: they went accordingly, that is, 
for this reason. Too, as you know, is an adverb of 
degree. Only, in the last sentence, is limiting in 
its nature, in that it expresses the idea of definite 
measure or result of the action. 

Note : But is often used for only ; as, I am but 
fooling; I am but playing. 

To sum up, Adverbs express the following ideas — 

Time : now, to-day, lately, immediately. 



128 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Length of time: Always, forever and a day, until 
the end, etc. 

How many times : Twice, frequently, often. 

Place : Yonder, there, here, near. 

Definite direction : Towards, backward y hence 
(from there or from which), thence (from there), 
whence (from where or from which). 

Degree : So, too, entirely, much, little (as in, a 
little while). 

Limitation or Exclusion : Only, but, simply (as 
in, He is simply a fool. Here simply excludes, or 
shuts out, the idea of his being anything but a 
fool). 

Manner: Beautifully, fast, well. 

Reason or cause : Therefore, accordingly, why. 

Caution : Here and there do not always denote 
place ; neither does only invariably serve as an 
adverb. For example, the word there y in There is a 
great God, is a mere empty form word, serving to 
introduce the thought. Here, in Here is your hat, 
has the force of an adjective, being equivalent to, 



EXERCISES 129 



this is your hat. Only, in I was the only boy there, is 
an adjective meaning the one single boy there. 

In the sentence, The violets on the bank are sweet, 
the phrase On the bank has the force of a limiting 
adjective, in that it makes the noun refer to particular 
things. 

NOTE : You will never have any difficulty in recog- 
nizing adverbial elements if you will but remember 
that adverbs of Time, Place, and Manner can be 
related only to verbs, never to nouns ; while Adverbs 
of Degree invariably accompany adjectives and other 
adverbs. Distinguish words by their meaning, not by 
their form or their position in a sentence. 

EXERCISES 

1. Think of some persons and things familiar to 
you. Make assertions about them. Then add to 
these assertions .adverbs of manner, adverbs of time, 
and adverbs of place. You may use either single 
adverbs or adverbial phrases: thus — 

( busily manner 

My father works < all day time 

' in his store place 

Afterwards you may add adverbs of degree, as, 

My father works very busily in his store all day. 
9 



130 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

2. Read the following carefully, and then distin- 
guish all the adverbs, whether single or phrasal, tell- 
ing in what way they modify the words to which they 
are related. 

There is always hope in a man that actually and 
earnestly works. Carlyle. 

Carlyle says beautifully of Burns' poems, " little 
dewdrops of Celestial melody in an age when so much 
was unmelodious" 

It is never too late to be what you might have been. 



So our lives glide on: the river ends, we don't 
know where, and the sea begins, and then there is no 
more jumping ashore. George Eliot. 

THE BROOK 

I come from haunts of coot and hern, 

I make a sudden sally, 
And sparkle out among the fern, 

To bicker down the valley. 

I chatter over stony ways, 

In little sharps and trebles ; 
I bubble into eddying bays ; 

I babble on the pebbles. 



EXERCISES 131 

/ chatter, chatter as I flow 

To join the brimming river ', 
For men may come and men may go, 

But I go on forever. 

I wind about, and in and out, 

With here a blossom sailing, . 
And here and there a lusty tront, 

And here and there a grayling. 

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance 
Among my skimming swallows ; 

I make the netted sunbeams dance 
Against my sandy shallows. 

I murmur under moon and stars 

In brambly wildernesses ; 
I linger by my shingly bars ; 

I loiter round my cresses. 

And out again I curve and flow 

To join the brimming river, 
For men may come, and men may go, 

But I go on forever. Tennyson. 

(Besides simply recognizing the adverbs in this 
poem, consider how beautifully the verbs express the 
many ways in which the brook shows itself. Then 
mark the force of the adverbial elements upon the 
verbs.) 

Life is fair and beautiful ; therefore we will rejoice. 



132 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

No man can say to his fellows : I am the only man 
who is without fault : I alone have thought only of 
well-doing. 

In August the grass is still verdant on the hills and 
in the valleys ; the foliage of the trees is as dense as 
ever and as green ; the flowers gleam forth in richer 
abundance along the margins of the river, and by the 
stone walls, and deep among the woods. There is a 
coolness amid all the heat, a mildness in the blazing 
noon. A pensive glory is seen in the far, golden 
beams, among the shadows of the trees. 

A blessing is flimg abroad and scattered far and 
wide over the earth. Hawthorne. 

Persons who can only be graceful and ornamental 
should die young. Hawthorne. 

3. Distinguish between adverbs and adjectives in 
the following sentences. Tell what words each modi- 
fies, and whether the adverbs express time, place, 
manner, or degree. 

All men, if they work not as in a great taskmaster's 
eye, will work wrong, work unhappily for themselves 
and you. 

Our life is short, and our days run 

As fast away as does the sun; 

And as a vapor, or a drop of rain t 

0?tce lost can ne'er be foimd again. 

Robert Herrick. 



EXERCISES 133 

See wJiat a lovely shell, 
Small and pure as a pearl, 
Lying close to my foot, 
Frail, but a zvork divine, 
Made so fairly well, 
With delicate spire and ivhorl, 
How exquisitely minute, 
A miracle of design. Tennyson 

" How very fortunate ! " he exclaimed in pleased 
surprise, " you come on the very day when I most 
need your precious help. I am truly glad, and 
wholly convinced that your great love mysteriously 
felt my need." 

The light shines bright on the sea. The wind 
blows soft and low. The waters of the bay leap high, 
and every wave shows green and white, rolling before 
the wind. The white-sailtd schooners sail fast in the 
fresh breeze, and their neat brass trimmings shine 
dazzling in the sun. A little tug, hauling a load of 
scows, is puffing hard against the tide. This is the 
only object that seems to be working; everything 
else seems to be only playing. 

How very beautiful the bay seems on a clear 
morning ! Surely New York Harbor is a glorious 
sight! The very thought of it brings vividly before 
us the joy of life and all its color and action. 



134 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

4. Rewrite the following fable, substituting suitable 
adverbs for the italicised expressions, and insert 
suitable adverbs or adjectives where words have been 
omitted. 

THE WASP AND THE BEE 

A wasp by accident met a bee and in saucy tones 
buzzed into her ears : " Pray, can you by any possi- 
bility tell me why men behave with such ill-nature to 
me, while they treat you with so much fondness. We 
look very much . . . , only the golden rings about 
my body make me appear . . . than you. We both 
love honey . . . , and we act like each other in most 
things. Yet men always seem to hate me with 
intensity and with cruelty try to kill me, though I treat 
them with more familiarity than you do, and many 
times visit them in their houses, while you . . . ever 
go near them. Yet they with much care build houses 
for you, thatched with neatness and many times feed 
you in the winter." 

The bee replied with much quietness : " In all 
probability it is because you are in every respect use- 
less to them, while I am engaged with diligence all 
day in making honey for them. If you want them to 
treat you with kindness, you must learn to be useful 
to them." 



Lesson XVIII 

Modifiers continued. Phrases and Clauses 
Compare the following sentences carefully: 

The industrious bee gatJiers much honey. 
The bee having industry gathers much honey. 
The bee that is industrious gathers much honey. 

Here we have one thought expressed in three 
different ways. In the first sentence the subject, bee, 
is modified by the single adjective industrious. In 
the second sentence it is modified by the word- 
group, having industry. In the third sentence it is 
modified by the word-group, that is industrious. 

From our comparison of these three sentences it 
is clear that a group of words may have the same 
meaning and the same modifying force as a single 
word. It is also clear that the meaning expressed 
in a group of words may sometimes be equally well 
expressed in one word, and that a single word may 
be expanded into a word-group. 

As a further illustration of this, examine the 
following: 



136 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

An honorable man, 

A man of honor. 

A man that is honorable. 

Observe that a word-group like of honor, or having 
industry, is wanting entirely in power of predication. 

Any group of words containing an idea, but in- 
capable of expressing a complete thought for want 
of an asserting or predicating word, is called a 
Phrase. 

The word-groups having industry and of honor are 
therefore phrases. 

Now let us examine the modifying word-group 
of the third sentence in our first example : that is 
industrious. Here we have, so far as form is con- 
cerned, all the essentials of a sentence : A subject 
(the relative pronoun that) and a predicate (is in- 
dustrious). And yet, you will observe, this word- 
group makes no sense in itself. In order to be 
understood, it must be related to the subject of our 
thought: namely, the bee. 

From this we can see that certain word-groups 
may be like a sentence in form, and yet be incapable 
of expressing a thought satisfactorily. 

Any group of words having a subject word and a 
predicate, but without power of expressing a thought 



MODIFIERS 137 



unless related to some idea or ideas expressed or 
understood, is called a Clause. 

The difference between a phrase and a clause is, 
that the phrase may express an idea, but is entirely 
without power of assertion ; while the clause contains 
the essential elements of a sentence, subject and 
predicate, but cannot be understood without refer- 
ence to an idea previously expressed or understood. 

Thus the phrases, 

The boy running up the street. 
The captain going to bat y 

bring pictures to our mind, and describe the subject, 
but tell us nothing definite about them. 

That sings to greet the dawn 

is a clause having all the formal elements of a 
sentence, but without power to tell us anything 
satisfactory. We naturally relate it to something 
that has been definitely named : bird, robin, etc. 
Otherwise it cannot be understood. 

Keep the above distinction between phrases and 
clauses clearly before you. 

Phrases and clauses, like adjectives and adverbs, 
serve as modifiers. 



138 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

NOTE: You will notice that the words, running 
and going, in The boy running and The captain going, 
describe the nouns to which they are joined. They 
are, therefore, true modifiers, as much so as lively 
boy or active boy. But because they are parts of the 
verbs run and go, and serve to tell of action as well 
as to describe, they are called Participles; that is, 
words partaking of the nature of a verb and an 
adjective. 

Notice the little word of in the phrases, man of 
honor, birds of passage. In itself it is entirely with- 
out meaning, but in combination with other words 
it plays a most important part in the expression of 
our thoughts. For it belongs to a class of little link- 
words without which many of our sentences would 
be as disconnected as a broken chain. An exami- 
nation of the link-words in the following sentences 
will at once make their value clear to you. 

The west windows of the house are ablaze in the light 

of the setting sun. 
The shadows at the end of the street are purple gray. 
Men and women are going to supper. 
Mothers are calling their children home from play. 
You ca7i hear the children saying good night to each 

other, and talking about the games they will play 

next day. 



EXERCISES 139 

Observe that of, in the first phrase, connects win- 
dozvs with houses, and thus shows the relation of the 
one idea to the other. Likewise, the link-word in 
connects the verb-phrase with the word-group, the 
light of the setting sun, and thus shows the relation 
of the predicate words to the words which modify 
them by telling where the windows are ablaze. The 
link-word at, in the second sentence, shows the rela- 
tion of the noun, shadows, to the word-group, the 
end of the street, while to, in going to supper, connects 
the action, going, with the end, or purpose, for which 
it is being made. The use of the other link-words 
in the remaining sentences you can discover for 
yourself. 

These link-words are called Prepositions. 

Preposition is a Latin word meaning placed be- 
fore, from the fact that it is placed before the 
principal word of a phrase to connect it with the 
word or words which the phrase modifies. 

The principal word of a phrase is usually a noun 
or pronoun. 

EXERCISES 

1. Distinguish the phrases and clauses in the fol- 
lowing sentences: 

An ignorant man is a world of darkness. 

A man without knowledge is a world ivithout light. 



140 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Persons who are gracious bring happiness every- 
where. 

They are powers of gentleness. They are kind to 
all, being like the spring, that robes even the swamps 
with bcanty. 

He who cannot take an interest in what is small, 
will take false interest in what is great : he who can- 
not make a bank sublime will make a mountain 
ridiculous. 

The weasel is the terror of the woods. His acts of 
wanton cruelty make him a murderer. He lies in 
wait for unsuspecting woodmice. He lurks among 
the leaves for everything that is weak and helpless, 
and he destroys the nests of the birds and the young 
that they have tenderly reared and even the homes 
which they make with such loving care. 

2. Convert, in the following, the underlined descrip- 
tive words into phrases and clauses having the same 
modifying force and meaning. 

The house-tops are weather-beaten. The garden gate 
is falling. The barn door is broken. The orchard 
trees are dying. A neglected appearance shozvs every- 
where. The once cosey window-seat is covered with 
cobwebs, and the once joyous rooms are silent and 
dreary. The long-deserted halls are the home of 
hornets and bats. The kitchen pantry echoes no longer 



EXERCISES 141 

the busy housewife s song. Only the wind 's low voice 
and the rat's squeak are heard. 

An abandoned farm is a sad sight. 

NOTE: Observe that the modifying words house, 
in house-tops ; garden , in garden gate; bam, in barn 
door, etc., are nouns and not adjectives. In English, 
one part of speech may readily be made to serve the 
purpose of some other part of speech. Nouns serve 
the purpose of adjectives, as above ; adjectives of 
nouns, as, "Blessed are the poor" etc., and nouns 
are sometimes used as verbs, as in " Man the life- 
boat" etc. 

3. Use single modifying words in place of the 
phrases and clauses in the following sentences: 

Bill was chief of the pirates. He had a raft of old 
wood for a ship, and a rag of old linen for a sail. 
Every day that was fair he sailed his ship over 
" The High Seas." " The High Seas " were a pond 
that was near by. Every pad of lilies was an island, 
and every chip of wood was a ship of treasure. Some 
banks of sand served as countries that were very dis- 
tant, and Bill often made upon them attacks that were 
terribly fierce. 

One day Bill's raft of old wood came apart, and 
Bill fell into the water. The chief of the pirates was 
resetted and carried to the house of his uncle. 

He sailed " The Hi?h Seas " no more. 



Lesson XIX 

Modifiers continued. Participles 

In our study of phrases in the last lesson (p. 138, 
note) and also in our study of the active and passive 
forms of verbs (p. 58) we came across certain words 
which, because they share or participate in the nature 
both of adjective and of verb, are called Participles. 
We discovered that some of these participles end in 
ing, while others end in d or ed. There is still 
another class which ends in n or en. 

Read the following sentences : 
The winning team goes off happy. 

The defeated nine looks sad. 

Here you will see that both winning and defeated, 
though they are forms of the verbs win and defeat^ 
have the meaning and the office of adjectives, for they 
serve not only to suggest action, but also to describe 
the nouns which they accompany. 



MODIFIERS 143 



Now examine the following: 

The boys were win?iing easily. They have defeated 
their opponents without trouble. 

In these sentences, you see, winning and defeated 
are no longer adjectives, but parts of verb-phrases 
which assert action of their respective subjects and 
form the predicates of the sentences. 

The beateji team went home disconsolate. 



Beaten, in this instance, is a participle, with the 
force of an adjective, since it expresses, not action, 
but description. If, however, we say : 

The boys who were beaten went home disconsolate, 

we shall find that beaten is the passive participle of 
the verb, beat. It serves, not to describe, but to 
tell of an action which was suffered by the subject, 
boys, as represented in the pronoun who. 

You will now be able to understand why it is that 
certain forms of the verb, participating in the nature 
of adjective and verb, are called Participles. 

A peculiarity of many participles ending in ing 
is, that while they serve as modifiers, they also 
take object complements. It is in this use of the 
participle that their double nature — adjective and 
verb combined — becomes quite manifest. 



144 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Read the following sentences: 

Born of poor parents, earning his bread in his 
youth by the sweat of his brow, living a lowly and 
frugal life full of hardships, Abraham Lincoln, through 
force of character and perseverance, attained to the 
JiigJiest and most honored position among his country- 
men. 

Now observe that the two active participles in the 
above quotation, earning and living, perform a two- 
fold office; first, they refer to the subject, Abraham 
Lincoln, and so are like adjectives, and second, they 
express action, are followed by object complements, 
and hence are like verbs. 

NOTE : Be very careful to distinguish verbals, like 
earning and living, from mere descriptive participles 
ending in ing, like writing, in writing-table, winning, 
in winning team, and flying, in flying cloud. 

We sometimes meet with participles which are 
related to the subject of the sentence, but in a very 
indefinite manner. Thus, in the sentence, Rising 
from his seat, he greeted the children pleasantly, the 
participle rising cannot be said to describe the 
subject he, except as it tells what he did when he 
rose and greeted the children. 



EXERCISES 145 



The same is true of the participles in the following 
sentences : 

Being in the cool woodland, I walked slozvly and 
looked about vie attentively. Hearing a song, I 
glanced up at the overarching trees. 

EXERCISES 

Point out the participles in the sentences below. 
Distinguish between those which form part of a verb- 
phrase and those used as adjectives : 

1. Running water is the mighty sculptor of the earth. 
It has fashioned the blossomed valleys ; it has hollowed 
the echoing grottoes and caves of ocean ; it has shaped 
the towering cliffs, and has cut through hills and moun- 
tains, born of awful upheavals, leaving in its path 
those deep and sJiadozved gorges, the sight of which 
leaves man stricken with wonder and amazement. 
Thus the rushing waters of the Colorado River have 
sculptured the universally known Canon, while the 
broken rocks of our seashores, eaten away by the waves, 
make manifest the power of this ever-zvorkitig moulder 
of sea-washed islands and vast continents. 

hi each hand the hastening angel caught 
Our lingering pare?its, and to the eastern gate 
Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast 
To the subjected plain — then disappeared. 



146 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

They, hand in hand, with wanderi?ig steps and slow, 

Through Eden took their solitary way. 

Paradise Lost. 

Souvenirs of earliest summer . . . hylas croaking in 

the pond — the elastic air, 
Bees, butterflies, the sparrow with its simple notes. 
Bluebirds, and darting swallows — 
The tranquil sunny haze, the clinging smoke \ the vapor, 
Spiritual, airy insects, humming on gossamer wings, 
Shimmer of waters, with fish in them. 

Walt Whitman. 

The best culture will always be that of the manly 
and courageous instincts, and loving perception, and 
self respect. 

The flowers fall in spring or summer, the fruit and 
leaves fall or wither in autumn, but the bhishing twigs 
retain their color throughout the winter, and appear 
more brilliant than ever the succeeding spring. 

Thoreau. 

2. There is a warbling vireo hidden among the leaves 
of the maple tree. His song is a rich, inspiring melody, 
filled not only with hope, but with confidence. There is 
in his strain somewhat of the bubbling music of run- 
ning waters and the rich color of full-blown roses. 

The rich buttercup 

Its tiny polished urn holds up 

Filled with ripe summer to the edge. 

Lowell. 



EXERCISES 14; 



The tongues of dying men 

Enforce attention like deep harmony. 

Shakespeare. 

He comes, — he comes, — the frost spirit comes, and the 

quiet lake shall feel 
The torpid touch of his glazing breath, and ring to the 

skater s heel ; 
And the streams which danced 011 the broken rocks, or 

sang to the leaning grass, 
Shall bow again to the winter chain, and in mournful 

silence pass. Whittier. 

THE ROBIN 

The fowls of heaven 
Tamed by the cruel season, crowd around 
The winnowing store, and claim the little boon 
Which Providence assigns them. One alone, 
The redbreast, sacred to the household gods, 
Wisely regardful of the embroiling sky, 
In joyless fields and thorny thickets leaves 
His shivering mates, and pays to trusted man 
His animal visit. Half afraid, he first 
Against the wi?tdow beats ; then brisk alights 
On the warm hearth : then hoppi?ig o'er the floor, 
Eyes all the smiling family askance, 
And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is ; 
Till, more familiar grown, the table-crumbs 
Attract his slender feet. Thompson. 



Lesson XX 

Modifiers. A Review 

Up to this point you may have noticed that the 
principal part of our study has been given to modi- 
fiers. We have seen, for example, how from the bare 
elements of noun and verb, properly related, it is 
possible to build up a sentence of great length, 
expressing various shades of thought. We have 
learned that certain modifiers serve to add new mean- 
ings to nouns or to words which do duty for nouns. 
And we have seen that certain other modifiers serve 
to add new meanings to verbs. We have learned, as 
regards words which modify nouns, that some limit 
the application of nouns to certain persons or things, 
that some serve to describe by expressing attributes 
or qualities, and that some express possession or 
ownership, while others denote number and quantity. 

We have learned that words which modify verbs, 
like beautifully \ swiftly, manfully, etc., serve to de- 
scribe actions, while others add the idea of time and 
place. And we have learned that still another class 
of adverbs serve as modifiers of modifiers, being 
added to adjectives and other adverbs to qualify them 
by denoting degree. 



MODIFIERS 149 

We have also discovered that groups of words may 
take the place of single words either as nouns or as 
modifiers, and that according as they are adverbial or 
adjectival in nature, these word-groups accompany 
either the subject or the predicate. 

Let us turn back to the first lesson in this book 
and examine the sentence Rain falls, which, as you 
have learned, is the simplest form in which a satis- 
factory statement can be expressed. 

This type of sentence is, as you will readily see, 
neither interesting nor beautiful, nor is it the type 
which is commonly found either in books or every- 
day speech, for to be thoroughly satisfactory and 
pleasing, sentences must be marked by certain qual- 
ities. First, they must be explicit where clearness is 
required ; second, they must be more or less detailed 
where the purpose is to describe something, and 
third, they must be more or less full in their expres- 
sion of a thought where the purpose is to explain 
something. 

Now in order to make a sentence explicit we must 
use words which help to make our subjects refer to 
definite things. 

In order to make our expressions detailed, if the 
purpose is to describe, we must use words which tell 
us about the attributes of the things named, and also 



150 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

words which tell of the manner, place and time of the 
actions which we predicate of them. 

To make a thought full, we must sometimes use, 
not single words, but whole groups of words to 
describe either the subject or the predicate : in other 
words, we must sometimes add descriptive and limit- 
ing phrases either to the subject or to the predicate, 
or to both of them. 

Let us examine the following: 

1. Rainfalls. 

2. The gentle rainfalls. 

3 . The gentle rain falls quietly. 

4. The gentle rain of summer falls quietly every- 
where. 

5. The gentle, reviving rain of summer falls on the 
fields and on the woods. 

6. The gentle reviving rain of summer falls very 
quietly to-day on the fields and woods and hills. 

Now observe that the bare statement expressed in 
sentence I is expanded in sentence 2 by the addition 
of the adjective the, which serves to make the subject 
explicit, and by the adjective gentle, which serves to 
describe it. It is still further expanded in sentence 3 



EXERCISES 151 



by the addition of the adverb quietly, which describes 
the manner of its falling. 

In sentence 4 the subject is made more vivid and 
explicit, first, by the addition of the participle reviv- 
ing, and second, by the phrase of summer. 

In sentence 5 the thought is expanded still further 
by the addition of the adverbial phrase on the woods, 
which indicates the place of the action. 

In sentence 6 the expansion is carried on by means 
of the adverb of degree, very, which is added to the 
adverb, quietly, and by the phrase to-day, which tells 
of the time of the action. 

EXERCISES 

1. The sentences below are exactly like rain falls 
in their form. Each of them makes a bare statement. 
Use appropriate modifiers and expand them so as to 
make them express thoughts in a full and satisfactory 
manner. 

Light arises. Birds sing. Horses neigh. Farmer 
comes. Shadows fly. Stars fade. Dawn breaks. 

Think of some subject such as evening, a river, a 
pond, a particular kind of tree, etc. Write a number 
of sentences about the subject you select. 

Notes : You cannot look about you without see- 
ing some objects that you can name, 



152 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

You cannot see any object without being able to 
state something about it by means of a verb. 

You cannot look upon objects without seeing in 
them a certain quality or character that may be 
expressed or described by a modifying word or 
phrase. 

Every time you open your eyes, they are filled 
with wonderful pictures of wonderful things. You 
can paint these pictures for others in words, so that 
they may see with their minds what you have seen 
with your eyes. 

You can always connect the action, being and con- 
dition of things with time, place, degree or manner. 

2. To be conducted orally: 

Some of the pupils may select a subject for com- 
position. Let several members of the class con- 
struct a number of sentences made up of the essential 
elements — grammatical subject and predicate. The 
other members of the class may then develop these 
sentences by supplying adjective and adverbial modi- 
fiers, either in single words or phrases. 

Caution : Do not use too many adjectives : and 
let such as you use be well chosen, and, above all, 
expressive. 



EXERCISES 153 

People frequently use two or three adjectives where 
one would serve, especially in such expressions as, 
A grand large building ; a roomy and commodious 
house ; a fine ', honest, straightforward man; a charm- 
ing, gentle, and beautiful woman, etc. 

In order to employ adjectives properly, compare 
the qualities which they express with the qualities of 
the things described. 

We ought to remember that the power of Speech 
is the highest and most precious gift of life, and we 
ought therefore to try to use this gift properly for the 
improvement of our own minds as well as for that of 
others. 

As your ideas are, so your words will be. If you 
think little thoughts, all your sentences will be little 
and of no consequence, no matter how many words 
you put into them. 

Never speak or write to be correct, but to be true. 
The correct or incorrect use of words is not deter- 
mined by rules of grammar or fashion, but by a far 
higher law, namely, that the end of speech shall 
express our thoughts clearly and faithfully to others. 



Lesson XXI 

Modifiers continued. Phrases 

Now that you have learned the distinction between 
phrases and clauses, let us try to discover the various 
meanings expressed by these word-groups, and the 
several ways in which they act as modifiers. 

Read the following sentences, paying particular 
attention to the underlined phrases: 

i . See the hoar-frost glistening on the brown earth ! 

2. In these days it is a common sight which people 
regard with a careless glance. 

3. To the old Norseman it was a great and mighty 
giant. 

4. From their constant communion with nature these 
old Norsemen saw something divine everywhere. 

5. The name of this giant was Hrym> or rime. 

6. The Norsemen worshipped this giant of old time. 

7. The dark clouds of the tempest were his horses. 



MODIFIERS 155 

8. The glistening spears of hail were his zveapons. 

9. Hrym is now only the common rime, or hoar- 
frost, of the meadows. 

Observe that in the first sentence the phrase on the 
brown earth has the force of an adverb, modifying 
glistening by telling where the frost glistens. Next 
observe that the phrase in these days, in the second 
sentence, modifies the predicate by expressing the 
idea of time. Here also observe that the phrase, 
with a careless glance, modifies the verb regard by 
expressing manner. In the fourth sentence, the 
phrase, from their constant communion with nature, 
expresses cause, that is, the reason why. Now since 
reasons or causes always apply to action, or being, or 
ways of acting or thinking, a phrase or clause ex- 
pressing cause or reason is adverbial in force and 
meaning. From their constant communion with nature 
— this was the reason or the cause of their seeing 
something divine everywhere. 

Notice that all these phrases have, as their leading 
word, prepositions which show the relation of one 
idea to another. 

We will now examine the remainder of the sen- 
tences with a view to discovering the uses of the 
phrases which they contain. 



156 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The name of this giant was Hrym, or rime. 

Here, you see, the phrase, of this giant , has all the 
modifying force and meaning of a limiting adjective, 
since it shows that the noun name belongs to a par- 
ticular owner or possessor : this giant. Notice that 
we can express the same idea without the phrase, 
making the word giant, by slightly altering its form, 
express possession : this giant's name. 

The phrase, This giant of old time, in the sixth 
sentence, is identical in form with the one which we 
have just studied ; but in this giant of old time the 
phrase defines the giant rather than expresses posses- 
sion. We would not say, this old times giant, but 
this oldtime giant, and thus define or limit the noun 
by making it refer to a giant of a certain time. 

We must therefore be careful not to confuse 
phrases introduced by the preposition of and indi- 
cating possession, with phrases denoting limitation or 
kind. The phrase, of the meadows, for example, in 
the hoar frost of the meadows, does not express 
possession, but limitation. Hoar-frost is generated 
along the highways, and on the leaves of the trees, as 
well as in the meadows, and therefore the phrase of 
the meadows tells us definitely what hoar-frost is 
meant. You can see at once that it serves to define 
hoar-frost rather than to express possession. 



MODIFIERS 157 

There is another class of phrases introduced by 
of which denotes kind or limitation. 

EXAMPLE : A piece of bread, A handful of rice, A 
lump of sugar. 

Another class denotes things distributed or divided. 

Example : Two of the apples are bad. 

Here of the apples shows the relation of two 
to some other apples, and indicates separation or 
distribution. 

The phrase in the seventh and eighth sentences are 
similar in use and meaning to the phrase of this 
giant. 

Notes : 

1. Phrases introduced by Prepositions are called 
Prepositional Phrases. 

2. Phrases which serve to modify nouns are 
Adjective Phrases; those which modify verbs are 
Adverbial Phrases. 

3. Modifying elements are called Adjuncts. Adjunct 
means joined, or added to. 

Thus the phrase of this giant, in the fifth sentence, 
is an Adjunct of name, because it is joined to it for 



158 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

the purpose of expressing limitation. The phrase, 
with a careless glance, in the second sentence, is an 
adverbial adjunct of the verb regard, the preposition 
with serving to link the two elements. 

EXERCISES 

1. Rewrite the sentences at the head of this lesson 
in different words. 

Whenever you find an adjective phrase expressing 
possession, use a noun in its place. 

For some of the adjective phrases, substitute single 
words. Thus, oldtime for giant of old times. 

2. Point out the phrases in the following sentences. 
Try to tell whether they are adjective or adverbial 
phrases. If adjective phrases, do they limit or 
describe the nouns? If adverb-phrases, do they 
express time, place, manner or cause? 

The splendor falls 011 castle walls 
And snowy summits old in story ; 
The long light shakes across the lakes 
And the wild cataract leaps in glory. 

Tennyson. 



EXERCISES 159 

The ship was cheered, the harbor cleared. 

Merrily did we drop 

Below the kirk, below the hill, 

Below the lighthouse top. 

The sun came up upon the left ; 
Out of the sea came he ; 
A nd he shone bright, and on the right 
Went down into the sea. 

Coleridge. 



There is sweet music here that softer falls 

Than petals from blown roses on the grass, 

Or night-dews on still waters between walls 

Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass ; 

Music that gentlier on the spirit lies 

Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes ; 

Music that briiigs sweet sleep dozun from the blissful 

skies. 
Here are cool mosses deep, 
And through the moss the ivies creep, 
And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep, 
And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep. 

Lo ! sweete?ied with the summer light, 
The full jtiiced apple, waxing over-mellow, 
Drops in a silent Autumn night. 



160 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

All its allotted length of days, 

The flower ripens in its place. 

Ripens and fades, and falls, and hath no toil, 

Fast rooted in the fruitful soil. Tennyson. 

The fantasies of 07ie day are the deepest realities of a 
future one. 

No magic Rune is stranger than a book. All that 
mankind has done, thought, gained, or been — it is 
lying in magic preservation in the pages of books. 

Carlyle. 

Living things leap in the grass, living things drift 
upon the air, living things are coming forth to breathe 
in every hawthorn bush. Richard Jeffries. 

By thinking clearly, we learn to speak clearly, and 
from observing the things about us, we learn to see 
aright. 



Lesson XXII 

Modifiers continued. Adjective Clauses 

READ the following sentences, paying particular 
attention to the underlined clauses. 

The things that are familiar are dearest. 

The daisy which stars every field is a well-beloved 
flower. 

The delicate plants that bloom in gardens, the ex- 
quisite flowers which hide their beauty in the woods, 
have not so many lovers. 

Observe that the underlined clauses in these sen- 
tences have all the force of adjectives for the reason 
that they serve to limit or describe the nouns which 
they accompany. Thus the clause in the second 
sentence, which stars every field, describes the subject, 
daisy. From this we may see that clauses sometimes 
perform the part of adjectives in describing or limit- 
ing nouns. Such clauses are therefore called Adjec- 
tive Clauses. 



162 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Observe that all the clauses in the examples above 
are joined to the various subjects by means of relative 
pronouns. These pronouns therefore have a three- 
fold use: First, as relative pronouns they stand for 
subjects previously expressed ; second, they serve as 
the subject of the verb in the clause; third, they 
serve as connectives between the nouns and their 
modifying adjuncts. 

Now examine the following : 

i . People who enjoy good health are happiest. 

2. People whose health is good are happiest. 

3. The people to whom nature has given good health 
are happiest. 

4. People whom nature has gifted with good health 
are happiest. 

Here we have four different forms of the pronoun 
who. 

In sentence one the pronoun stands for the sub- 
ject. In sentence two it indicates possession. In 
sentence three it is the objective form, since it is pre- 
ceded by the preposition to, for all nouns and pro- 
nouns which are preceded by prepositions are said 
to be governed by these prepositions, and so become 
their objects. In sentence four the pronoun is the 



MODIFIERS 163 



objective form, for the reason that it stands for a noun 
which, if it were repeated, would be the object of the 
transitive verb. 

We shall be better able to understand the signifi- 
cance of the various forms of the pronoun who if 
we express the thoughts of the sentences in which 
they occur somewhat differently. Thus, instead of 
saying, People whose health is good are happiest, we 
may say: 

Healthy people are happiest. 

People with the best health are happiest. 

People who have the best health are happiest. 

Here observe that the clause introduced by whose 
is equivalent, first, to a single adjective, second, to an 
adjective phrase expressing possession, or, third, to 
an adjective clause which asserts possession. 

By making four statements out of sentences three 
and four, you will be able to see at once that whom 
always stands for a noun or pronoun which, if 
expressed, would be the object either of a preposition 
or of a transitive verb. Thus : 

Those people are happy. Nature has given good 
health to them. 

Nature has gifted those people with good health 
They are happy. 



1 64 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

From all the above examples, we can see (i) that 
the pronoun who, when used as a relative, always rep- 
resents a noun which is the subject of a thought, (2) 
that whose represents a noun expressing possession, 
and (3) that whom always represents a noun which, 
if expressed, would be the object of a preposition or 
transitive verb. 

Note : The simplest way of determining whether a 
pronoun in a clause represents a noun which is the 
subject of a thought, or a noun which is the object of 
a preposition or a transitive verb, is to break up the 
sentence in which the clause occurs into two parts, as 
in the following: 

1. These are the girls of whom I spoke to you 
yesterday. 

2. / spoke to you of some girls yesterday. These 
are the girls. 

EXERCISES 

1. An adjective clause appears in each of the 
following sentences. Tell whether it limits or de- 
scribes, and point out the relative pronouns which 
stand for subjects, those which stand for objects 
either of a preposition or a transitive verb, and those 
which stand for nouns, phrases, or clauses expressing 
possession. 



EXERCISES 165 

Heaven never helps the man who will not act. 

The man who seeks one thing in life, and but one, 
May hope to achieve it before life is done. 
But he who seeks all things, wherever he goes, 
Only reaps from the hopes which around him lie sows 
A harvest of barren regrets. Meredith. 

2. Animals and birds which live in forests or jun- 
gles, have colors that match the hues of their haunts. 

The parrots which live in the tropics have the gorgeous 
colors that belong to tropical forests. The partridge, 
which is a gentle and defejiceless bird, can scarcely 
be seen when lying among the fallen leaves. The sober 
hues of her plumage matches almost exactly the sur- 
roundings in which she lives and seeks her food. The 
polar bear, whose home is in a land of snow, .has a 
white coat. This enables him to steal upon the seals 
which lie dozing on the ice. Travellers of whom I 
have read, tell an amusing story about the polar bear. 
He is said to cover his nose, which is black, with his 
paw, for the black spot would show against the daz- 
zling whiteness which everywhere surrounds the bear, 
and so warn the seals. 

3. Sea-gulls have white and gray plumage which is 
easily seen against the heavens and the green and blue 
of the never-resting ocean waves. This seems to con- 
tradict the tilings that have been written about the 



1 66 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

colors of birds as protection. But a scientist of whom I 
have lately read explains the sea-gull's colors. The sea- 
gull lives in an element which is free from enemies. 
He who considers this will see the force of the explana- 
tion. The great horned-owl, which makes the bunnies 
tremble, and the weasel, that is the terror of birds, 
mice, and squirrels, cannot harm the sea-gulls or their 
young in their homes which are washed by the storms 
of ocean and air. 

The scientists to whom we are indebted for these 
truths are men whose memories will always be 
honored. 



Lesson XXIII 

Modifiers continued. Adverb Clauses 

We learned that certain word-groups or clauses 
were used with the force of adjectives and served in 
this way to expand a thought by adding to it the 
element of description. 

We will now study another class of clauses by 
means of which a sentence may be made more full 
and explicit. For this purpose, let us examine the 
following sentences in order that we may discover 
the meaning of each clause and in what way it 
modifies the word of which it is an adjunct. 

1 . Before the sparrows came> Phoebe and her mate 
were happy. 

Here the clause, before the sparrows came, serves as 
an adverbial modifier of the verb, were happy, in the 
sentence, Phoebe and her mate were happy. This 
clause expresses time. 

2. But when the sparrows arrive d y their happiness 
vanished, for these quarrelsome creatures annoyed them 
constantly. 



1 68 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

In this sentence we find two clauses. The first of 
these, when the sparrows arrived, is similar to the 
clause in the first sentence, in that it expresses time 
and so modifies the verb, vanished. 

3. The Phoebe s sought a new home, that they might- 
have peace. 

Here the clause, that they might have peace, ex- 
presses purpose. It tells for what end or purpose the 
Phoebes sought a new home. 

4. The sparrows, however, followed and annoyed 
them as they had done before. 

In this sentence the clause, as they had done before, 
modifies the predicate, followed and amioyed them, 
by expressing the manner in which the actions were 
performed, that is, the manner in which the sparrows 
had annoyed the Phoebes before. 

5. " If we do not go far azuay," said Mr. Phoebe, 
" we shall be unhappy." 

Here the clause, if we do not go far away, expresses 
condition. In other words, the condition upon which 
the happiness of the Phoebes depends is, that they go 
far away. 

Further illustrations of a clause of condition may 
be seen in the following : There will be a ball game 



MODIFIERS 169 



if it does not rain. Here the statement, there will be 
a ball game, is qualified by the condition expressed 
in the clause, if it does not rain. 

6. A sedgy bank overhangs the river where the tide 
runs swiftest. 

In this sentence, the clause, zvhere the tide runs 
swiftest, will be recognized by you as a clause which 
modifies the predicate to which it is joined by indi- 
cating place. 

7. So the little Phoebes' nest was built where the 
river runs in silvery song, and they slept in peace 
where the sparrows could not find them. 

You can easily find the adverbial clauses in the last 
example for yourselves. 

Note : Be careful to distinguish sharply between 
clauses of cause and clauses of purpose. Try to 
remember that clauses express cause by explaining 
the reason of the action, while clauses of purpose tell 
for what end an action takes place. Thus : if you 
said, I stopped running, for I was tired, the clause, for 
I was tired would show why you stopped running. 
If, on the other hand, you said, / study that I may 
learn, the clause that I may learn would show not 
only why you study, but the purpose for which you 
study, namely ; with the end or object of learning. 



170 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

EXERCISES 

1. Distinguish the adverbial clauses in the follow- 
ing sentences. Tell whether they express time, cause, 
purpose, place, or condition. 

WOODLAND WONDERS 

When next you go into the woods, observe every 
old stump carefully. You will discover some interest- 
ing facts, if you will but keep your eyes open. The 
fallen trees at your feet are being made into powder 
while you are watching them. Before you approached, 
the powder-makers were zvorking at the stump in great 
numbers. Many of them ran to their homes, for they 
heard the noise of your coming. But stand still, that 
they may be reassured, and when the wood takes on its 
song-pierced silence, the beetles will restime their work 
of reducing the fallen plants to poivder. If you are 
quiet and observant, you will see the7n gnawing the old 
stumps. They do so that they may have food, and also 
that they may make themselves homes. The earth 
benefits greatly by this, for the powder makes rich 
mould that feeds the living trees. 

Wasps and hornets work as skilfully as some men. 
If you watch them, you will see them make old wood 
into pulp. They do, this that they may construct their 
wonderful nests. 

Wherever life is found, you will discover miracles. 



EXERCISES 171 

2. Analyze the first four sentences. Find their 
logical subjects and predicates. Find their gram- 
matical base and their predicate base. Point out the 
modifiers of these, and tell what ideas they add to 
the words which they modify. 

3. Write a composition similar to the above on 
any subject familiar to you. Use, wherever you can, 
adverbial clauses of time, place, manner, cause, pur- 
pose, and condition. 



Lesson XXIV 

Modifiers concluded. Apposition 

READ the following sentence, paying close atten- 
tion to the words enclosed in dashes : 

The great truth announced by modern science — the 
steady progress of all living things from lower to 
higher forms — is now accepted everywhere. 

Notice that the phrase enclosed in dashes is added 
to the subject, truth, for the purpose of explaining 
it. This modification and explanation of an idea 
without the help of connecting words is frequently 
met with, both in books and in the every-day speech 
of man. 

Sometimes we find a noun used with the pronoun 
for the sake of explanation or identification, as in, 
He, my father, will protect me. 

Sometimes the explanation of a word is brought 
about by the use of a noun with its adjuncts, as in 
the following: 

Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ. 

Mary, the wife of Cleophas. 



MODIFIERS 173 



In some cases the idea expressed in a logical 
subject may be extended by the addition of one or 
more phrases, as in the following: 

A true test of friendship — to sit or walk with a 
friend for an hour in peifect silence without wearying 
of one another's company. 

Here, you see, all the phrase beginning with to 
forms a detailed explanation of the subject of the 
thought, namely : A true test of friendship. 

Whenever any modifying element is related with- 
out connecting words to a noun for the purpose 
of identification or explanation it is said to be in 
Apposition. 

Note : Apposition means, placed or set next to. 

The explanatory or identifying word or phrase 
which is set opposite the noun or pronoun explained 
is called an Appositive. 

Appositives are generally marked off from the 
phrase or word which they modify by commas or 
dashes, thus: 

Books — lighthouses built on the sea of time. 

The appositive noun or word group generally 
follows the noun or pronoun which it modifies, but 



174 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

sometimes we find the Appositive placed before the 
principal word. 

Example : 

The conservor of tJie liberties of men, Young America 
comes forth. 

EXERCISES 

1. Point out in the following sentences the words 
in apposition: 

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting ; 

The soul that rises with us — our life's star — 

Hath elsewhere its setting 

And cometh from afar. Wordsworth. 

Oh for boyhood's time of June, 
Crowding years in one brief noon, 
When all things I heard or saw 
Me, their master, waited for. Whittier. 

Not of the howling dervishes of song 

Who craze the brain with their delirious dance, 

Art thou, O sweet historian of the heart. 

Longfellow: To Tennyson. 

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee, 
Child of the wandering sea. Holmes. 

/ hold the world but as the world, Gratiano ; 
A stage where every man must play a part. 

Shakespeare. 



EXERCISES 175 

Absurd images are sometimes irresistible. I will 
mention two — -An elephant in a coach office gravely 
coming to have his trunk booked : A mermaid over a 
fish kettle cooking her own tail. Charles Lamb. 

Reason's whole pleasure ', all the joys of sense, 
Lie i?i three words — health, peace, and competence. 

Pope. 

That bad thing, gold, buys all good things. 

Dryden. 

O wild west wind, thou breath of Autumn's being. 

Shelley. 

. . . That best portion of a good mari s life, 
His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness 
and of love. Wordsworth. 

2. Add explanatory and descriptive appositives 
to the following nouns, and to six others which you 
may supply yourselves : thus — 

George Washington, the father of his country. 

Many of our cities and states are described in cer- 
tain phrases, as : Indiana, the Hoosier State. 

Columbus. John Hancock. U. S. Grant. Abra- 
ham Lincoln. Washington City. New York. Boston. 
Chicago. Massachusetts. California. Michigan. 
Colorado. 



176 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

3. Invent appositive phrases to describe the things 
named below and some others which you can select 
for yourselves. Thus: The bluebird — the herald of 
spring. 

The horse . . . The dog . . . 

Steam ... Electricity . . . 

The telegraph . . . The telephone . . . 

The steamship . , . The locomotive . . . 

The army . . . The navy . . . 

The Atlantic . . . The Pacific . . . 
The Declaration of Independence . . . 

Baseball . . . Football . . . 

Violets . . . Golden-rod . . . 

Christmas ... Easter . . . 

June . . . September . . . 

4. Select any one of these and write a brief com- 
position about it. Use as many appositive phrases 
as you can, but not to such a degree as to make 
them tiresome. 



Lesson XXV 

Complements 
Examine the following groups of sentences: 

A. The horse is a quadruped. 
The lion is a beast of prey. 
Man is an animal. 

B, The horse is strong. 
The lion is fierce. 
Man is immortal. 

Notice that in group A the subject of each sen- 
tence names an individual creature, and that the 
predicate tells us to what class it belongs. 

Notice that in each sentence of group B some par- 
ticular quality is predicated of the subject named. 

You learned in Lesson IV that any form of the 
verb Be which is used as a copula, that is, to 
connect ideas, has no power of predication in itself. 
Thus, such a group of words as The horse is would 
not only be very uninteresting, but would tell us 
nothing definite about the subject; and if some one 
were to speak or write such a sentence, you would 
find yourself asking, " The horse is what?" feeling 



i;S THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE # 

the need of some word or words to complete the 
copula. The moment we add the idea quadruped 
to the horse is, we make the verb complete by nam- 
ing the class to which the horse belongs. 

On the other hand, if we were to add the adjective 
strong- to the copula, the predicate would be com- 
pleted by an attribute word expressing a quality. 
Now since nouns, or groups of words which name a 
class, like quadruped and beast of prey, and also 
adjectives, which express quality, are added to 
copulas to complete their meaning, these nouns and 
adjectives are called Complements. 

The words that complete the predicates of group A 
are Noun Complements. The words which complete the 
predicates of group B are Adjective Complements. 

Note : Complement means a part which makes com- 
plete. Complements are used either for the purpose 
of describing the subject, or to designate a class to 
which the thing named in the subject belongs, or to 
name individuals belonging to a class. 

Now examine the following: 

The spirit of man sees many things. 

It sees motes in the sunbeams. 

It sees countless worlds in the heavens. 

It sees sorrow and joy. It sees beauty and love. 



COMPLEMENTS 1/9 



Observe that in these examples the words which 
complete the meaning of the predicate-base are 
nouns> as in the examples of group A. But here, 
you . must notice, the nouns do not complete the 
meaning by telling what the subject is, but by naming 
objects which receive different actions expressed by 
the transitive verbs of the several predicates. 

You have learned that every transitive verb sug- 
gests two distinct ideas, a subject, the source of the 
action expressed in the transitive verb, and a direct 
object, the thing towards which the action is imme- 
diately directed. 

When we say, 

The spirit of man sees, 

we have no clear idea of what it sees. The 
statement is vague and general. But when we 
add the words, many things, the meaning at once 
becomes clear and definite, for the noun things 
names the object of the seeing. So also in the 
second sentence, by adding the noun motes to 
the verb, the action is limited to a particular 
object, and the meaning of the predicate is 
completed. 

For this reason a noun added to a transitive verb 
to limit the action which it expresses to a particular 
object, and thus to complete the predicate, is called 
An Object Complement. 



180 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

EXERCISES 

1. Point out the complements in the following 
sentences : 

Tell whether they complete the predicate (A) by 
expressing one or more attributes of the subject, or 
(B) by identifying the subject with some person or 
class, or (C) by serving as objects of transitive 
verbs. 

Everybody loves the bluebird. 

His song announces spring. 

It is hopeful and merry. 

The days of March are cold. 

The woodlands are dreary and spring seems distant. 

But suddenly we hear a song. 

Its music is hopeful. 

The singer is the bluebird. 

He is the herald of spring. 

2. Select some subject, such as Lincoln, Grant, 
Sherman, or McKinley, and write a brief composi- 
tion, introducing the three kinds of complements 
which you have just studied: Adjective Complement, 
Noun Complement, and Object Complement. 

Think of each sentence as a unit composed of 
related ideas. 



OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS l8l 

Objective Complements 

Examine the following: 

The bluebird's song makes the zvorld glad. 
His message of spring makes the heart merry. 

Notice that in each instance the adjectives which 
follow the noun-objects in these sentences complete 
the meaning of the predicate by adding to the noun 
an attribute which is the result of the action expressed 
by the verb. 

Tlie bluebird 's song makes the world, — 

this, you see, is not true, and we feel that some- 
thing is wanting to tell us what effect the bird's song 
has upon the world. By adding the adjective glad 
to the object world, the result of the action is made 
clear to us. 

A word, or group of words, which completes the 
meaning of a verb by denoting an attribute of the ob- 
ject resulting from the action expressed by the verb, 
is called An Objective Complement. 

This objective complement may be either an ad- 
jective, a noun, or a word-group. 

EXAMPLES 

Repeated victories made the people joyful. (Ad- 
jective.) 



1 82 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

They elected WasJiington president. (Noun.) 
They set the air ringing with glad cries. (Word- 
group.) 

Notice that the attributes of the objects springing 
from the action expressed by the verb, are more 
closely connected with the verb than with the object 
itself. Thus, in the sentence 

They elected Washington president ', 

the predicate base might be made to read, 

They elected-president Washington. 

Here the two words, elected-president, may be 
regarded as a single verb expressing a particular kind 
of action, namely ; an action having an object and 
giving rise to an attribute of this object. 

Note : Such verbs as 

Makes- glad the world, 
Makes-merry the heart, 

would seem very strange to us ; and yet we have, in 
English, many Latin words which combine two ideas 
in this way. Nearly every verb ending in^ contains 
two distinct ideas, one expressing an action, and one 
expressing an attribute due to the action. For the 
ending fy is only a mutilated form of a Latin word 
meaning to make. 



EXERCISES 183 

Compare the following: 

English verb : 

Idleness and luxury make men foolish. 

Latin verb : 

Idleness and luxury, stultify men. 

This one word stultify combines in itself the two 
ideas make and foolish : for stultus is Latin for fool, 
and fy is a shortened form of f care, to make : hence, 
to make-foolish. 

This will enable you to see how closely connected 
are the verb and the objective complement resulting 
from the action which it expresses. 

EXERCISES 

1. Find the objective complements in the following 
sentences: 

Only low thoughts can make us slaves. Only pure 
thoughts can create us noblemen. 
Virtue keeps the soul szveet. 
The sun paints the world golden. 
Envy turns the heart spur. 
Nature created all men equal. 
No man can write another up or down. 

To make the body strong ; to keep the heart sweet ; 



1 84 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

to make our appetites servants ; to create the mind ruler 
and elect virtue leader — that is education. 

And God called the light Day. 

2. The blank spaces below are to be filled with 
words to complete the meaning of the predicate. 

The wind makes the clouds . . 

The clouds make the sky . . . 

The rain makes the ground . , . 

The ground keeps the seeds . . . 

Autumn turns the leaves . . . 

The breeze sets the leaves . . . 

The fallen leaves make the hard ground . . . 

Jack Frost paints the fields . . . 

The cries of happy boys and girls set the wood ... 



Subjective Complements 

Examine the following sentence: 

They elected Washington president. 

You know that the noun president is an objective 
complement for the reason that it completes the 
meaning of the verb by expressing an attribute of 
the object springing from the action of the verb. 

Since only transitive verbs take an object, it is 
clear that Objective complements denote attributes be- 
longing to the objects of transitive verbs. 

Compare the sentence above with the following : 



EXERCISES 185 



Washington was elected president. 

Here the form of the verb is no longer active, but 
passive ; and since the passive form of the verb can- 
not take an object, it is clear that the noun president 
must here belong to, and describe, the subject. For 
this reason we may call president, as here used, a 
Subjective Complement because it completes the mean- 
ing of the verb in the passive form and expresses an 
attribute of the subject. 

EXERCISES 

1. The verbs in the following sentences, with two 
exceptions, are active in form and are therefore com- 
pleted in meaning by objective complements. Make 
them passive, and use subjective complements. 

Poetry keeps the world young. It makes the lieart 
joyful. God created man immortal. His love keeps 
all things beautiful. It makes the darkness light and 
the sorrowful glad. 

The robin s song sets the heart singing. 

Before other thi7igs were, God was. He made the 
world beautiful ; He created man supreme ; He painted 
the heavens azure; He taught the birds to sing; He 
made the mountains majestic ; He shaped the green 
valleys ; He taught the homeless tides to ebb and flow ; 



1 86 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

He made the earth beautiful with grass and herb and 
stately tree, and He made the soul of all immortal. 
The father of all is God. 

2. Complete the following sentences by supplying 
the necessary objective and subjective complements : 

Our bicycles were made . The handles and 

seats were set , and soon we were off. 

The roads had been made - — — by the frost, and 

as the road-machines had packed them , we had 

delightful riding. 

Earle, because he knew the road well, was elected 

, and Tom was appointed -, because he 

could make good coffee and boil eggs. 

After riding some twenty miles, we stopped and 

made a sheltered nook our . We prepared our 

lunch, and you should have seen us make the 
food . 

The level rays of the sinking sun were turning the 

western fields — , when we set our wheels 

homeward. 

As we were going down a steep hill, a pig ran 
across the road, almost upsetting us, and the scare 

made Tom turn . But we kept our heads 

and avoided accidents. 



Lesson XXVI 

Compound Subject, Predicate, and Object 

MOST of the sentences which we have considered 
in the preceding lessons have had as their bases a 
Simple Subject and a Simple Predicate; that is, the 
subject contained but one name, and the predicate 
asserted but one idea of the subject. 

When you think, however, of the number of differ- 
ent things in the world which we can include in one 
assertion, or the number of assertions we may make 
about any one thing, you will readily understand that 
the subject of a sentence may frequently be made up 
of several nouns, and that the predicate may often 
consist of several assertions in regard to one or more 
such names. 

Think, for instance, of the action move, and of 
the vast number of things of which we can assert 
this form of action : Men and horses, sheep and 
goats y boys and girls, trees and jlowers, etc., etc., 
move. 

Or think of sleep and of the innumerable things 
of which we can assert sleeping. Or think of the 
verb study and of the girls and boys of your school, 



1 88 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

and you will immediately see that you can say, The 
girls and boys of our school study diligently. 

When two or more nouns, or equivalent naming 
elements, are contained in the subject of a sentence, 
the subject is said to be Compound, which means placed 
together; that is, two or more ideas are placed to- 
gether to form one subject of thought. 

As there are Compound Subjects, so there are Com- 
pound Predicates. For, as you have read above, we 
may make many different assertions about any one 
thing, the greatest as well as the humblest, or the 
most uninteresting, or the smallest thing. 

Examples : 

The .little wind-flower lifts its delicate form and 
bends its slender neck and blushes with its own 
beauty. 

The constitution of the United States was framed 
and upheld and fought for by noble lovers of freedom. 

The children of liberty gave their riches, and shed 
their blood and dedicated their lives to the cause of 
country. 

Sometimes, both subject and predicate are com- 
pound, as in the following: 

Men and women, rich arid poor, labored and strug- 
gled for their native land. 



COMPOUND SUBJECT 1 89 

As the subject and predicate of a sentence may be 
compound, so, too, the object of a transitive verb may 
be compound. The following is an example: 

He watched the clouds and vapors sail. 
Like ghosts upon the autumn gale. 
He saw the leaves and jlowers jail, 
Attd night descending like a pall. 

Notice how frequently the little word and occurs in 
all the examples given above. Notice that it serves 
to connect ideas, and that, without it, each noun 
would have to stand in a sentence by itself, having 
only a simple predicate. 

Instead of being able to say, The grasses and the 
twigs and the branches are hung with icicles, we should 
be obliged to use three distinct sentences for the 
expression of this one thought : The grasses are hung 
with icicles. The twigs are hung with icicles. The 
branches are hung with icicles. 

This would be as awkward and tiresome as repeat- 
ing your name over and over again every time you 
had to mention yourself, instead of using pronouns to 
vary your expression. As it is, we can express a 
great many ideas in one sentence by means of words 
like and, for they bind our ideas together and thus 
help us to express ourselves in the fullest and clearest 
manner. 



190 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The word and belongs to a class of words called 
Conjunctions, which serve to join together separate 
ideas and different parts of thoughts. (The word 
conjunction comes from the Latin conjunctio, a joining 
together) . 

In many sentences, when the subjects or predicates 
or objects are made up of three or more separate 
ideas, the conjunction is omitted, except between the 
last two words, in order to avoid repeating the con- 
junction to a tiresome extent. In this case, a comma 
is written wherever the conjunction is omitted. This 
is illustrated in the following examples : 

The waters of the mountain brook are racing, leap- 
ing, shouting, and singing like happy children full of 
the joy of spring. 

Men, women, children, 

Heroes, sages and poets, 

Kings and clowns, all are human. 

Sometimes, however, the repetition of the conjunc- 
tion has a very happy effect. Notice this in the 
following: 

When the sun approaches toivards the gates of the 
morning, he first opens a little eye of heaven, and 
sends away the spirits of darkness, and gives light to 
a cock, and calls up the lark, and by and by gilds the 
fringes of a cloud, and peeps over the eastern hills. 



EXERCISES 191 

Here the repetition of the conjunction gives the 
impression of a great number of things successively 
done by the sun. It emphasizes each part of the 
predicate, and gives the reader or listener a sense of 
much detail. Therefore, when we wish to keep the 
mind fixed on each part of a compound subject or 
predicate the conjunction may be repeated with 
excellent effect. 

Compare, for instance, the following: 

a. He stormed, shouted, cursed, tore his hair, threat- 
ened, and finally rushed out. 

b. He stormed, and shouted, and cursed, and tore 
his hair, and threatened, and finally rushed out. 

EXERCISES 

1. Point out, in the following composition, the 
sentences whose subjects are compound and whose 
predicates are simple ; the sentences whose predi- 
cates are compound with simple subjects; the sen- 
tences having both compound subject and compound 
predicate, and those having a compound object. 

The grasses and twigs and bra7icJies are hung with 
icicles. 

The sunlight shines and gleams and sparkles all 
around. 

Valley and upland are clothed with glory. 



92 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Nature, the Magician, transforms all the bleak 
places and the barren spaces of the earth. 

She makes the woods palaces and temples of glisten- 
ing jewels > and covers the hills and valleys and wood- 
lands with countless diamonds of ice, and makes every 
field a great pearl of snow. 

The humblest weed and the loftiest elm have hidden 
their shabby brown autumn suits and have put on the 
pure and beautiful garments of winter. 

2. Point out compound subjects, objects, and 
predicates in the following quotations: 

An infant when it gazes on the light, 

A devotee when soars the host in sight, 

An Arab with a stranger for a guest, 

A sailor when the prize has struck in fight, 

A miser filling his most hoarded chest, 

Feel rapture . Byron. 

The true zeal and patience of a quarter of an hour 
are better than the sulky and inattentive labor of a 
whole day. Ruskin. 

Robins, bluebirds, orioles, song-sparrows, crows, 
frogs, brook and wind, make up a varied and delight- 
ful spj'ing concert. 

Sometimes the concert is interrupted and changed 
to sad discords. For the sivallows and the king- 
birds quarrel very often. Then, instead of twittering 



EXERCISES 193 

merrily, they scold and cry and peck at each other 
viciously. The swallows usually begin the trouble 
by darting past the kingbird suddenly and trying to 
knock him off his perch. He, like a wary general, 
sits very still and watches his enemies closely, and 
waits until one of them comes within reach of his 
beak. For the kingbird moves and flies slowly, com- 
pared with the swiftly -darting swallow. And he 
knows that it is useless to pursue them, so he htisbands 
his strengtli and tries to accomplish by his wits what 
he cannot do by his wings. 

These discords and petty wars among birds are as 
serious to them as battles are to men. 

3. Write the following, supplying the missing 
words : 

The ship and the waves rose and — — together. 
The — — flashed and darted across the blackness. 

The pealed and rolled every minute. Slowly 

the waters and the were overpowering the noble 

vessel. The tore away the sails and the yards 

and everything in its path. It men, women, and 

off their feet. It the masts and yards. It 

overturned the caboose and the wheelhouse. 

4. Supply the missing subjects, predicates, or ob- 
jects in the following sentences: 



194 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



flies through the air like an invisible mes- 



senger and crosses oceans and mountains swift as 
light. 

hisses and thunders and speeds like a fiery 

dragon through cities and fields and forests. 

rises from the valley and flies before the wind 



like ghosts. 

Robins and . Blue birds also and 



Boys and girls and and . 

Carpenters build and . 

The wind rocks and and .. 

Men, women, childj'en, animals, and birds and 

— in order to live. 



The fire engine and along the street. 

5. Write a composition on some one of the follow- 
ing or some similar topic : A Tornado; A Game of 
Base-ball; A Boat-race; Chasing my Hat; A Day 
at the Mardigras ; A Visit to the Park ; Caught in a 
Shower ; Nutting ; Visit to (some factory) ; The 
Return of the Birds; The Fiesta; etc. 



Lesson XXVII 

Phrases used as Nouns 

The subject of a sentence is usually a noun either 
accompanied or unaccompanied by modifiers. Some- 
times, however, the subject of a sentence is a group 
of words equivalent to a noun in its power to name 
the subject of a thought. 

Examine the following sentences : 

i . Talking about the greatness of man is tiresome. 

2. Being a trained elephant is better fun. 

3. To go about with a circus, to eat peanuts all the 
year round and to march at the head of the parade are 
finer than the things I do. 

Notice that the subject of each of the above sen- 
tences is a Phrase. In the first sentence, the participle, 
talking, with its adjuncts, is the logical subject, and is 
tiresome is the predicate. The subject of the second 
sentence is similar in form to that of the first. In the 
third sentence the subject is compound, and each part 
consists of a phrase which, in its naming power, has 
the force of a noun. It is clear, then, that the subject 
of a sentence may consist of a Phrase. 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Now let us examine this group of sentences. 
i . The greatest pleasure in life is to do good. 

2. The source of all pure joy is enjoying simple 
things. 

3. Most men love to work and to earn ; some men 
prefer to study ; some men like doing nothing best 
of all. 

4. We should assume every man to be honest, and 
keep our minds above suspicion. 

Notice that in the first two examples a phrase is 
used as predicate attribute of the subject; in the 
third sentence a phrase is used as an object comple- 
ment, while in the fourth sentence a phrase is used to 
express an attribute of the object ; that is, as an objec- 
tive complement. 

From all the above examples we can see that 
phrases may be used in place of nouns as com- 
plements, either to express attributes of the sub- 
ject, or as objects, or as attribute complements of 
the object. 

EXERCISES 

1. Point out the phrases in the following pieces. 
Tell whether they serve as subject, attribute comple- 
ment, object, or objective complement. 



EXERCISES 197 

The souls of the righteous arc in the hands of God. 
All is of God ! Longfellow. 

Nature s chief masterpiece is writing well. Pope. 

Words learned by rote a parrot may rehearse ', 
But talking is not always to converse. 

Travelling after fortune is not the way to secure her. 

Goldsmith. 

Of every noble action the intent 

Is to give worth reward, vice punishment. 

Beaumont and Fletcher. 

It is better to wear out than to rust out. 

Cumberland. 

The manly part is to do with might and main what 
you can do. . Emerson. 

Learn to labor and to wait. Longfellow. 

Cowards are cruel, but the brave 

Love mercy, and delight to save. Gay. 

Education is to know for the sake of living, not to live 
for the sake of knowing. Kate Douglas Wiggin. 

Dare to be true. Herbert. 

The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat oneself. 

Bailey, 



198 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The winds of summer set the woodlands murmuring 

like a great organ. 
They keep the bright waters dancing in the sunlight, 

and make the clouds change into wonderful shapes 

of beauty. 

Over the meadow frogs proclaim 

The coming of Spring to boy and dame. 

2. Make the following sentences complete by 
supplying suitable phrases or single words. 

All men once declared the zvorld flat, 

like a disc, but Columbus proved it round, 

like an orange. He was a great and courageous man, 

but a great and courageous man did not 

help him. He argued and demonstrated before power- 
ful people, but . . . and . . . were of no avail. He 

begged supplied with ships and men, for 

he longed over the ocean, and he desired 

the truth of his theory. But people refused 

to him y some going so far as . . . ... 

him a madman. 

He began of ever getting help, but just 

then Queen Isabella ordered him before her, 

and after she had heard him, she announced herself 

ready him. She had little money, but she 

promised her jewels in order to furnish 

him with ships and men. 



EXERCISES 199 

3. Construct a number of sentences on any subject 
you may please to select. In some of your sentences 
use phrases as subjects; in some use phrases as 
attribute complements, and in others use phrases as 
objects and objective complements. 



Lesson XXVIII 

Clauses used as Nouns 

Read the following sentences. Notice carefully 
the underlined clauses. 

i . That Spring has come is certain. 

2. What the bluebird says leaves no room for 
doubt. 

3. Whether it rains or snows is of little moment to 



4. He knows that Spring has arrived. 

5. He sees where she has been. 

6. That her breath has warmed the earth is proved 
by the waking flowers. 

7. When bluebirds sing is the time of Spring. 

8. How birds learned the art of building is a 
mystery. 

Notice that in sentences 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 the 
subject consists of a Clause, while in sentences 4 and 



CLAUSES USED AS NOUNS 201 



5 a Clause forms the object of the verbs knozv 
and sees. 

If we analyze sentence I logically, we shall see that 
its essential parts may be separated as follows. 

Subject Predicate 

That Spring has come is certain. 

If we analyze sentences 4 and 5, we shall find that 
their essential parts may be separated thus: 



Subject 


Verb 


Object 


He 


knows 


that spring has arrived. 


He 


sees 


where she has been. 



If we attempt to reduce the subject of sentence 1 
to a single naming word, we shall discover that in 
order to do so we must make two sentences where 
now there is but one. 

This teaches us that frequently a whole clause is 
necessary to the expression of the subject of a 
thought. The same is also true of clauses as objects 
and complements. 

NOTE : The use of clauses as object is common in 
English, but the use of clauses as subject is chiefly 
confined to learned talk and writing. Clauses as sub- 



202 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

ject are therefore not to be recommended in speech, 
since this form of sentence is somewhat artificial and 
stilted. Yet in some cases the clause as subject 
serves the purpose of emphatic expression, and 
frequently enables us to combine two sentences in 
one. 

That death is certain is something no one can deny. 

Here the certainty of death is given great promi- 
nence and emphasis by using the whole clause as 
subject. 

EXERCISES 

I. Supply the missing predicates in the following: 

That health is the greatest blessing . . . 
Whether we are rich or poor ... 
What counts most of all . . . 
Where last year's snow went . . . 
Whatever is worth doing . . . 
" When the robins nest again "... 
That a calm succeeds a storm . . . 
Where the tides rest . . . 
Whatever a good man says . , . 

II. Supply clauses as subjects for the following, as 
in these examples: 



EXERCISES 203 

Subject Predicate 

That the world revolves is beyond question. 

What the future will bring us is not known. 

. .. . is certain. . . . has been proved. . . . was 
announced in the Declaration of Independence. ... 
is the title of one of Shakespeare's beautiful comedies. 
. . . is the title of a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith. 
. . . is not definitely known, tJioicgh history says they 
landed many years before Columbus, in North East 
America, which they called Vineland. 

III. In the blank spaces supply clauses as Attri- 
bute Complements of the subjects, as in these 
examples. 

The enduring glory of the colonists is that they 
upheld the rights of man. 

They were what they declared themselves to be : free 
men. 



Lexington is where one of freedom' s battles was 
fought. 



" / regret that I have only one life to give to my 
country!' is . . . 

The fame of the Liberty Bell is worldwide ; Phila- 
delphia is . . . 



204 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The place where national laws are framed is the 
first city in a land. Washington is . . . 

" Give me liberty or give me death'' is . . . 

One of the simplest facts in the world is . . . 

IV. Analyze the seven sentences at the head of this 
lesson. Point out their logical subjects and predi- 
cates. See whether you can make two sentences out 
of sentence i, and still express the same thought. 

Try to do likewise with sentence 2 : then state 
your reason for the necessity of sometimes using 
clauses in place of nouns. 

V. Find all the clauses and phrases in the pieces 
below. Determine the several ways in which they 
are used, whether as subject, object, or attribute 
complement. , 

A child said, What is the grass ? fetching it to me 
with full hands. > / 

That we grow in knowledge is necessary, but that 
we grow in love is essential to life. That a man has 
read all the great books proves only his industry. 
Whether he has read his own nature is the important 
thing. 

What we always put off doing 
Clearly we shall tiever do. 



EXERCISES 205 

The zvorld will little note nor long remember what 
we say here ; but it can never forget what they did 
here. Lincoln. 

We think that men are lords of life and knoivledge. 
Yet we must admit that birds and animals have keen 
senses. Suppose an eagle could know that some men 
are boastful. Suppose he should ask if they could look 
steadily at the sun. This is what he does naturally 
a?id easily. And we know that some birds can see 
small objects miles away from them. That so great a 
power of vision should belong to such small creatures is 
a marvel. That it is necessary to them is very plain. 
It enables them to see where the insects are, and to 
detect whatever may be going on about them. One of 
the charms of natural history is that it reveals to us a 
nature akin to our own in all the creatures of the 
world. 

The use of clauses as subject, object, and attribute 
complement makes it possible for us to combine two 
sentences into one, as : 

1. You are in good health. That pleases me. 

2. That you are in good health pleases me. 

3. The lecturer is speaki7ig. I do not understand 
what he says. 

4. What the lecturer is saying I do not understand. 



206 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

5. Money makes the mare go. That is an old 
adage. 

6. That money makes the mare go is an old adage. 

VI. Examine the following sentences carefully. 
Try to turn two sentences into one by using clauses 
as subject, object, or attribute complement. 

Caedmon was the earliest English poet. That is 
well known. 

When he lived : this we know ; where he lived : this 
we also know. 

He lived in the seventh century. We know that 
from an old history. 

He lived in a monastery at Whitby. History tells us 
that also. 

How he tended the cows : this is well known. 

How he went off alone one night : this too is known. 

And how he became inspired and sang the wondrous 
works of God: this the old books tell us. 



Lesson XXIX 

Independent Elements 

In this lesson we shall meet with certain words 
and word-groups which are peculiar in one respect, 
namely; that while they are related to the thought 
of a sentence, they are not absolutely necessary 
to the complete expression of a thought, and may 
therefore be regarded as Independent Elements. 

Examine the following: 

What ! Are yon Jiere ? 
Alas ! They are gone. 

Here What ! expresses surprise, and Alas ! expresses 
sorrow. Both of them serve to show us that the 
speaker is crying out, or exclaiming, and for this 
reason they are called Interjections. Notice that the 
sentences in which these interjections occur are 
complete without them. 

Note: Sometimes an exclamation is equivalent to 
a whole sentence. Thus the exclamation Come ! in 
the sentence Come ! Tell me the truth, may be ex- 
panded into : Now be frank with me and tell me the 



208 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

truth. Away I in the sentence Away ! you are hate- 
ful to me, is equivalent to the imperative Leave my 
presence ! or Get out of my sight ! Since we are 
obliged, however, to read sentences into these single 
words, and since, as they stand, they have in them- 
selves no power of expressing a thought completely, 
we must regard them merely as exclamations. 
Now let us examine the following : 

Every lover of truth {and there are many lovers of 
truth) rejoices at the triumph of a good principle. 

Observe that the statement enclosed thus, ( ) 
is unnecessary to the sense of the statement, Every 
lover of truth rejoices at the triumph of a good prin- 
ciple. It is merely an inserted comment connected 
with the principal statement as an after-thought, or 
illustrative remark. 

Any phrase or clause which is inserted in this way 
to serve as a comment or remark, forms what is 
called a Parenthesis. Parenthesis is a Greek word 
meaning placed in beside. Thus the remark In Paren- 
thesis, and there are many lovers of truth, is placed 
in beside the principal thought, Every lover of truth 
rejoices at the triumph of a good principle. 

Besides parenthetical phrases and clauses we often 
meet with sentences in which words and phrases are 



EXERCISES 209 



used for the purpose of indicating some person or 
object that is being addressed or spoken to. 

Examine the following: 

Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back. 

Here the words, my lord, are inserted to show that 
some person is being addressed or spoken to. 

This is also true of the underlined words in the 
following examples: 

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me 
pleasure to address you this evening. 

Sir, I have furnished you with topic y but I am not 
bound to furnish you with an argument. 

My dear Sir, clear your mind of cant. 

Observe that each one of these sentences is com- 
plete in itself without the inserted phrase of address. 

Whenever a word or group of words is inserted in 
a sentence for the purpose of showing that some per- 
son or thing is addressed, it is called a Vocative. 

EXERCISES 

1. Point out phrases and clauses used parentheti- 
cally in the sentences below. Find the words and 
phrases used as Vocatives, and find also the excla- 
mations. 



2 10 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Ah ! Well I love those books of mine 
That stand so trimly on their shelves. 

Oh ! Was there ever such a knight, in friendship or 

in war, 
As onr sovereign Lord, King Henry, the Soldier of 

Navarre ! 

A wind came up out of the sea, 

And said, " mists, make room for me." 

It hailed the ships and cried, " Sail on, 

Ye mariners, the day is gone." Longfellow. 

Mr. President : It is natural to man to indulge in 
the illusions of hope. 

Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of 
those means which tJie God of Nature has put i?i our 
power. Patrick Henry. 

" Ah, once more" I cried, "ye stars, ye waters, 
On my heart your nighty charm renew." 

Matthew Arnold. 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet. Kipling. 

Whatso'er you find to do, 

Do it, boys, with all your might. 

Charles Mackay. 

Well ! Summer is gone, and the swallows are flying, 
And Oh ! tJie sorrowful loon is crying, 
And Oh ! the green of the Earth is dying. 



EXERCISES 2 1 I 

— We knew not the month ivas October, 
And we marked ?iot the night of the year, 
{Ah night of all nights in the year /) 
We noted not the dim lake of Anber 
{Though once we had journeyed down here.) 

Poe. 

Boom, cannon, boom to all the winds and waves ! 
Clash out, glad bells, from every rocking steeple ! 

Lowell. 

Thou born to match the gale, (thou art all wings) ; 
To cope with heaven and earth and sea and hurricane. 

Walt Whitman. 
Thou happy, happy elf ! 

(But stop, first let me kiss away that tear) 

Thou tiny image of myself ! 

{My love, he 's poking peas into his ear !) 

Tliou pretty opening rose ! 

{Go to your mother, child, and wipe your nose.) 

Thomas Hood. 

2. Compose twelve sentences containing words 
which you would use to express the emotions of 
joy, sorrow, regret, disappointment, surprise, fear, 
pain, admiration, and worship. 

Compose at least five sentences containing voca- 
tives, and four containing parentheses. 

3. Examine the underlined clauses and phrases in 
the following sentences. Several of these are par- 



212 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

enthetical. Try to determine which they are, and 
supply the curves of the parentheses — ( ). 

The diurnal motion of the earth which was at one 
time disputed is now established beyond doubt. 

In all my ivanderings round this world of care, 
In all my griefs and God has given my share 
I still have hopes, my latest hours to crown, 
Amid these humble bowers to lay me down. 

CzOLDSMITH. 

/ am going a long way 

With these thou seest, if indeed I go 
For all my mind is clouded with a doubt 
To the island valley of the Avillon, 

Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow t 
Nor ever wind blows. Tennyson. 

The faun is the marble image of a young man, 
leaning his right arm on the trunk or stump of a tree. 
His only garment, a lion's skin, with the claws upon 
his shoulder, falls half-way down his back. The 
whole statue unlike anything else that ever was 
wrought in that severe material of marble, conveys the 
idea of an amiable and sensual creature. 

The Marble Faun. — Hawthorne. 

Gossips, to tell the truth, are but the chattering daws 
of life. 

Poetry, how few, by the way, appreciate the power 
of poetry, is not a comment on Life : it is Life. 



Lesson XXX 

Pleonasm 

BESIDES the independent elements just studied, 
we frequently meet with another peculiar element, 
which we will now consider. 

Examine the following sentence : 

The beautiful days of youth and early manhood, 
they have passed away. 

Observe that here the pronoun they is not needed, 
since the thought could be adequately expressed as 
follows : 

The beautiful days of youth and early manhood have 
passed away. 

Strictly speaking, the sentence has, therefore, one 
word more than is required. This use of redundant 
or unnecessary words is called Pleonasm. Pleonasm 
means an unnecessary fulness or excessive use of 
words. 

The use of the pronoun they, however, is unneces- 
sary only in a strictly grammatical sense. For the 
purpose of emphasizing the subject, it is not only 
necessary, but desirable ; and a great number of 



214 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

so-called pleonasms are really a vital part of the 
sentences in which they occur. 

He who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

This could be expressed as follows: 

Let him who hath ears to hear, hear. 

But the force and charm of the sentence would be 
lost. Therefore, from a broad point of view, many 
pleonasms are desirable and even beautiful. 

Now examine the following : 

/ do not care for no man. 

In this sentence we have an example of the com- 
monest kind of pleonastic expression, namely; 
a double negative. You will see at once that one of 
the negatives is altogether unnecessary. The sen- 
tence should really read : 

I care for no man, or / do not care for any man. 

As it is, the impression which we receive is that 
the speaker means to declare that he does care for 
some man. This, however, is not the meaning in- 
tended, and, therefore, the first not, being entirely 
unnecessary to the sense, is pleonastic. 

This peculiar pleonasm is very ancient, and is fre- 
quently met with in early English writers. 



EXERCISES 21 5 

NOTE: It may be well to remember that English 
writers up to the time of Shakespeare used double 
negatives, not always because they were ignorant of 
their language, but because they sometimes wished 
to. make their statements emphatic. In the sentence 
above, I do not care for no man (Shakespeare, " Romeo 
and Juliet"), the not caring and no man are brought 
together for the sake of showing complete and em- 
phatic negation. In these days, however, the logical 
rule is that two negatives are equivalent to ait affirma- 
tive, and so we find double negatives used only by 
people that are ignorant of the right principles of 
modern English. 

EXERCISES 

l. In the sentences below look for the pleonasms. 
Determine whether the sentences would be improved 
if the grammatically unnecessary words were omitted. 
In sentences containing double negatives determine 
whether these are used for the sake of emphatic nega- 
tion, or whether they are used to contradict each 
other and so make an affirmation. 

Nor did they not perceive the evil plight 

In which they were, nor the fierce pains not feel. 

Milton. 

Then heaven tries the earth, if it be in tune. 

Lowell. 



216 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few : 
pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would 
send forth laborers into his harvest. Luke x. 1,2. 

/ cannot believe nothing : I must have something to 
believe. 

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. 

O sleep, it is a blessed thing, 
Beloved from pole to pole. 

My limbs they were heavy and weary ; 
My heart it was heavy and sad. 

Not for nothing does our spirit love the sky. 

The little ones of earth, behold how pure and precious 
they are. 

All tilings bright and beautiful, 

All creatures great and small, 
All things wise and wonderful, 

The Lord God made them all. 



Lesson XXXI 

Ellipsis 

In this lesson we shall study a peculiarity of ex- 
pression directly opposed to pleonasm, which we 
considered in our last lesson. In other words, instead 
of examining sentences characterized by unnecessary 
words and phrases, we shall examine some pieces 
characterized by a want of fulness. 

We must remember, however, that this so-called 
want of fulness is not to be regarded as an imper- 
fection. On the contrary, many of the most memo- 
rable, the most forcible, and the most beautiful 
sentences in our literature owe their good qualities to 
the fact that they express thoughts without employ- 
ing all the words demanded by grammatical rules. 

Examine the following: 

The golden days of Oetober passed away, as so 
many other Octobers have, and brown Novembers like- 
wise, and tlie greater part of chill December, too. 

Hawthorne. 

In the above passage the predicate, passed away, 
occurs only once, though considered from a narrow 



2l8 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

grammatical point of view it should be repeated at 
least three times. It is not necessary, however, to 
repeat the predicate, passed away, in order to under- 
stand the thought. From a practical point of view, 
the sentence is better as it is than it would be with 
the predicate repeated, for by leaving it out we save 
both time and effort, and the sentences gain in 
terseness and directness. 

Whenever we find any expression in which certain 
words are left out without any injury to the sense, it 
is said to be Elliptical. 

The omission of a word or group of words is called 
Ellipsis. 

Ellipsis is a Greek word meaning " an omitting" or 
" leaving out." 

Ellipsis may be said to be a virtue "rather than an 
imperfection, and the English language is peculiarly 
rich in sentences in which a number of words are 
omitted, but which express thought in a satisfactory 
and adequate manner. 

From the earliest times, the tendency of English- 
speaking people has been to make their language as 
practical as possible, and to this end they have not 
only indulged freely in ellipses, but have even short- 
ened the forms of many words. 



ELLIPSIS 219 

In the following sentences the words in brackets 
are usually omitted. 

All [is] right ! [ You may] go ahead! 

[I] thank you. 

[If I were to ask you] would you kindly give me a 
drink ? 

Will you go? Yes. [I will go.] 

Who goes there ? A friend [goes there]. 

[If it] please [yo/i], come along. 

Tom is stronger than Bill [is strong]. 

One day 's as good as another [day is good]. 

He promises to write every day. Maybe he will 
[write every day]. 

May I see what you are examining? Certainly 
[you may see what I am examining]. 

I am so sorry [that I am scarcely able to express my 
sorrow]. 

He is the man [whom] I saw yesterday. 

This is the place [which] I spoke of . 

This child is six [years old]. 

[how I wish] for a sunshine holiday ! 

It seems as [it would seem] if it were a dream. 
No trespassing [will be permitted]. 

1 have never been there, hit he has [been there]. 

The Americans were patiejtt as long as [it was] 
possible [for them to be patient]. 



220 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

EXERCISES 

1. The following sentences are elliptical. Make 
them complete by supplying the omitted words. 

Love me> love my dog. 

Never too late to mend. 

Time flies faster than the wind. 

What 's done zve partly may compute, but know not 
what' 's resisted. Burns. 

Laws die, books never. Hark ! the world so loud, 
And they, the movers of the world, so still. 

Lytton. 

Character is higher than intellect. Emerson. 

Books are the best things, well used ; abused, among 
the ivors t. Emerson. 

'Tis more brave to live than to die. Meredith. 

A boy is better unborn than untaught. Gascoigne. 

There 's nothing so kingly as kindness, 
And nothing so royal as truth. 

We can nowhere find a better type of a perfectly free 
creature than in the common house fly. Not free only y 
but brave. Ruskin. 

People say you cant do any tiling. You can. 



EXERCISES 221 



Man rules the civilized world, lions the deserts and 
jangles, eagles the air, and owls and weazels the wood- 
lands. 

■ I hear old tunes, familiar to me from childhood. 

OJi, for faith! Food and raiment thou hast never 
lacked yet. And shall not. Carlyle. 

The least said the sooner mended, runs the homely 
proverb, and never was more wisdom packed i?ito fewer 
words. 

Man never is, but always to be blest. Pope. 

2. The following sentences are unnecessarily long. 
Some of them are awkward, and several are wanting 
in force and directness. Make them as elliptical as 
possible without injuring their sense. 

It is time for all to be aboard. 

Honey is delicious and it is useful. 

What time of the day is it? It is forty-five minutes 
past ten o'clock. 

If I were to ask you to do me a favor, zuouldyou be 
so kind as to tell me yotir name ? 

He never in his life spoke nothing evil, nor he never 
in his life spoke no falsehood. 



222 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

How old is yonder child ? Yonder child is seven 
years old. 

I wish you to come here. I command yon to speak : 
I am listening. 

Will it rain ? I think it will probably rain. 

Does two and two always make four ? Two and 
two always undoubtedly makes four. 

Are you willing to go with me t I am willing to go 
with you. 



Lesson XXXII 

Classes of Sente?ices 

THE type or kind of sentence which we have studied 
up to this point has contained but one logical sub- 
ject and predicate, with their respective modifiers. 
For this reason it is called the Simple Sentence, to dis- 
tinguish it from sentences in which two or more 
independent statements are joined together. 

Compare the following: 

1. Subject Predicate 

Trees sank. 

2. Subject Predicate 

Purple and crimson and 
scarlet, like the ciu'tains of Sank into the valley 

God's tabernacle, the re- in showers of ligJit. 

joking trees 

Sentence i is a simple sentence, and sentence 2 is 
also a simple sentence, with a wealth of beautiful and 
well-chosen modifiers grouped around noun and 
verb. 

Observe that sentence 2 contains as modifiers only 
single words and phrases. 



224 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

We will now study another type of sentence in 
which clauses are used as modifiers, and as subject, 
object, and complement. 

Sentences of this kind, namely, in which we find a 
principal statement accompanied by one or more 
clauses used as adjective or adverb modifiers, or as 
subject, object, or complement, may be studied in 
two ways. 

A. Considered logically, any sentence expressing 
one independent statement is a Simple Sentence, no 
matter how many clauses such a sentence may con- 
tain, so long as these clauses are used as adjectives or 
adverbs, or as subject, object, or complement. 

B. Considered grammatically, a sentence contain- 
ing two or more clauses may be called a Complex Sen- 
tence, in that it is constructed of various parts woven 
together. Complex means, literally, Woven together. 

Examine the following: 

He laughs best who laughs last. 

If the weather 'continues fair, we will go. 

A. Logically considered, these sentences are simple 
for the reason that each of them contains a principal 
statement which is accompanied by a clause serving 
as a modifier. Thus, the clause, who laughs last, in 



CLASSES OF SENTENCES 225 

sentence 1, defines the subject, he ; while the adverb 
clause in sentence 2 modifies the predicate, will go, 
by expressing condition. 

B. From a grammatical point of view, however, 
the two examples given may be classed as complex, 
since in analyzing them grammatically we must say 
that each sentence is made up of two clauses, and that 
each clause has a definite subject word and a definite 
predicate word. Thus, in sentence 1, the subject of 
the first clause is he, and the verb is laugJis, modified 
by the adverb, best Who is the subject of the second 
clause, laughs the predicate, and last, an adverbial 
modifier. 

Of these two clauses only one is capable of making 
sense independently of the other; namely, He laughs 
best. The other clause cannot make sense by itself. 
For this reason, the clause, He laughs best, is called 
the Principal Clause, and who laughs last, the Sub- 
ordinate Clause. 

Subordinate means, second in importance. 

Now examine the following: 

Subject Predicate 

How the birds find their way back home is a mystery. 

Subject Verb Object 

Some people think they find their way by instinct. 



226 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

In these two examples we find clauses used respec- 
tively as subject and object. 

Notice that in each sentence a whole clause is 
absolutely necessary to the complete expression of 
the thought, and that if any of the words of either 
clause were removed the sense would be destroyed. 
These two examples will prove to you that a sentence 
may logically be simple, no matter how many clauses 
it contains so long as these clauses are used as 
adjectives, adverbs, or as subjects, objects, or 
complements. 

NOTE: There are some so-called subordinate 
clauses which make complete sense without reference 
to the part of the sentence that they modify. Thus, 
in the second sentence of our last two examples, the 
clause, they find their way by instinct expresses a 
statement independently of the so-called principal 
parts of the sentence, some people think. 

Examine the following: 

i . As we sow, so shall we reap. 

2. She was so frightened that she grew pale. 

3 . Enough is as good as a feast. 

4. Some days are more delightful than other days. 



CLASSES OF SENTENCES 1^ 

Observe that each one of these sentences is made 
up of two clauses, each of which is necessary to the 
complete understanding of the other, and both of 
which are required in order to express a satisfactory 
thought. 

These sentences will enable you to understand the 
full meaning of the word Complex. 

In sentence one, the first clause, as we sow, serves to 
prepare our minds for a comparison which is com- 
pleted by the second clause, so shall we reap. The 
first clause expresses manner, and the second clause 
expresses the result of this manner. 

Again, in the second sentence, SJie was so fright- 
ened that she grew pale, the first clause expresses 
cause, and the second clause expresses result. 

In the third sentence, EnougJi is as good as a feast, 
the first clause, enough is as good, naturally suggests 
to us that something is to be compared with the sub- 
ject, ejiough, and the elliptical clause, as a feast, 
which, fully expressed, would read, as a feast is good, 
sets forth the things compared. 

In the fourth sentence, Some days are more delight- 
ful than other days, the first clause implies that two 
subjects having different degrees of the same quality 
are to be compared, and the second clause, which is 



228 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

introduced by the conjunction than, tells us definitely 
what it is that is compared. 

Observe that the clauses of these four sentences 
are truly complex, since none of them can express a 
thought independently, and since, in each case, two 
of them are woven together to express a satisfactory 
statement. 

EXERCISES 

1. Analyze logically the following sentences. Point 
out their subjects and predicates. You may regard 
all the sentences given below as simple sentences. 
Therefore, instead of analyzing the clauses grammati- 
cally, determine in what way they are used, whether as 
subjects, objects, complements, as adjuncts of the 
subject or as adjuncts of the verb. 

Robert of Lincoln' s Quaker wife, 

Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings, 

Passing at home a patient life, 

Broods in the grass while her husband sings. 

When you can pipe that merry old strain, 
Robert of Lincoln, come back again. 

Bryant. 

He is not worthy of the honeycomb that shuns the 
hive because the bees have stings. Shakespeare. 



EXERCISES 229 

True bravery is shown by performing without wit- 
7iesses what one might be capable of doing before all 
the world. 

If a man empties his purse into his head no man can 
take it away from him. Franklin. 

The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt 
until they are too strong to be broken. Johnson. 

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, 

When first we practise to deceive. Scott. 

He who fails to give to others withholds from 
himself. 

No men living are more worthy to be trusted than 
those who toil up from poverty. Lincoln. 

No tears dim the sweet look that nature wears. 

Longfellow. 

One impulse from a vernal wood 

May teach you more of man, 
Of moral evil and of good, 

Than all the sages can. Wordsworth. 

Where law e?tds, tyranny begins. 

He serves his party best who serves his country best. 

Hayes. 



Lesson XXXIII 

How the Simple Sentence may be Expanded 

We will now examine some of the ways in which 
the various parts of any simple sentence may be 
related one to another. 

Read the following : 

i. The sky, which a little while ago was blue {oh, 
how blue it was /), is now as dark as night. 

2. Ah! the lightning, which flashes incessantly, has 
lighted up the whole landscape. 

3 . The thunder roars fearfully from tune to time, 
echoing from every cavern of the hills. 

4. The ram, the refresher of the earth, falls fiercely 
in sheets on the fields so recently illumined by the beau- 
tiful sunlight. 

Note : These sentences are expansions of the first 
four sentences in Lesson I. 

In the first sentence the expansion of the sentence 
is made possible ( 1 ) by the use of the clause, which 
a little while ago was blue. You will observe that 
which is the word which performs the important part 
of joining together the subject and its modifying 
clause, since as a relative pronoun it stands for sky 
and at the same time forms the subject of the 



SIMPLE SENTENCES EXPANDED 231 

predicate was blue. (2) By the use of the parenthet- 
ical remark {oh, how blue it was/). (3) By the 
conjunctive adverb, as, in as dark as night, since it 
serves to connect the clause expressing degree, as 
dark, with the elliptical clause, as night (is dark). 

In the second sentence, observe carefully that the 
original predicate, flashes, has become part of the 
descriptive clause, and that the thought is expanded 
by the addition of a new predicate, namely; has 
lighted up the whole landscape, and also by the excla- 
mation Ah / 

In the third sentence, The thunder roars fearfully 
from time to time, echoing from every cavern of the 
hills, we see, first, how important a part the preposi- 
tions from and to play in the modifying phrase from 
time to time, for by means of these prepositions the 
idea of time is definitely related to the action. In 
this same sentence the thought is still further ex- 
panded by means of the participle echoing, which 
describes the subject, thunder. 

Now let us examine the fourth sentence: The rain, 
the refresher of the earth, falls fiercely in sheets on the 
fields so recently illumined by the beautiful sunlight. 

Here the expansion of the grammatical sentence, 
Rain falls, is brought about, first, by the descriptive 



232 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



phrase, refresher of the earth, which is in apposition 
with the subject, rain. Second, by the preposition 
in, which links the verb falls to the noun sheets and 
so helps to describe the action ; third, by the preposi- 
tion on, which links the verb falls to the noun fields 
and so indicates the place of action ; and, finally, by 
the participle illumined, with its adjuncts, which acts 
as a modifier of the noun fields. 

Now let us summarize the principal ways in which 
a sentence may be expanded. 

1. By the use of conjunctive words like which, as, 
etc. ; introducing clauses (as in sentences i and 2). 

2. By the use of prepositions and words in apposi- 
tion (as in sentence 3). 

3. By the use of participles (as in sentences 3 
and 4). 

4. By the use of independent elements : exclama- 
tions, vocatives, parentheses, and pleonasm. 

EXERCISES 

1. Expand the following sentences by substituting 
Relative Clauses for the adjectives. 

The burnt child dreads the fire. 
The injured man is now zvell. 



EXERCISES 233 



The broken bridge is now repaired. 

The dark sky is beginning to brighten. 

The long silent woods will soon be filled with 
music. 

The sleeping hylas will begin to peep. 

The hidden woodchuck will soon be sitting in the 
sun. 

The heavily dressed children will appear in prettier 
and lighter robes. 

The gaunt, bare trees will be plumy with leaves. 

The barren hills will be covered with flowers. 



2. Try to think of some comparisons, introduced 
by as, to use with the following predicates. The 
darkness of the sky, for example, suggests the dark- 
ness of night, and so the clause in sentence 1 of this 
lesson reads : The sky, which a little while ago was 
blue (oh, how blue it was!), is now as dark as 



The bluebird's wings are as . . . 

Some children's eyes are as blue . . . 

Some children have beautiful hair, . . . yellow . . . 

Mice are proverbially quiet: When any one is speak- 
ing, let us be as quiet . . . 
Some boys run as fast . . . 



234 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



3. Make one sentence out of each two statements 
in the following by converting one of them into an 
adverbial clause of time. 

He will come. I will be here. 
He sleeps. I read. 
Study goes on. We are quiet then. 
Jack comes home to-morrow. I will be on hand 
then. 

The cat's away. The mice will play. 

4. Make one sentence expressing comparison out 
of each two in the following: 

yohn is tall. Bill is taller. 

Mary is young. Annie is younger. 

Lions are fierce. Tigers are as fierce. 

5. Substitute phrases for the single adverbial modi- 
fiers in these sentences, and thus make the statements 
explicit. This introduction of phrases makes neces- 
sary the use of prepositions, as in the following : 

He sometimes visits me. 

He visits me once in a while, or now and then. 

Yonder gleams meadow hoar-frost. Everywhere we 
see fall signs. The bird migration has begun. Bands 
of swallows go by momentarily. They fly speedily and 
gracefully southward. Next year they will wing joy- 



EXERCISES 235 

fully northward. Here everything tells of the holiday ' s 
end, and yonder it is school tunc. 

6. Expand the following sentences by supplying 
appropriate Participles. Use your judgment to de- 
termine whether an active participle is required, or a * 
passive participle. 

Here are the boys . . . like frightened horses. 

Recess is over : there is the bell . . . 

The waters of the sea are never . . . Their voice 
is like the voice of winds . . . in pine forests. See 
how smooth this stone is, . . . by the tides. 

The- beach is like a yellow crescent . . . by the 
waves. 

Yonder boat seems like a great white-winged bird 
. . . over the bine waters. 

7. Expand the following sentences by the use of 
single words, phrases, or clauses in Apposition -— as in 
sentence 4, The rain, the refresher of the earth. 

My favorite book . . . has given me much pleasure. 

My favorite sport . . . is fine fun. 

My favorite study . . . is full of interest. 

My favorite playmate . . . is dear to me. 



236 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

8. Expand the following by using exclamations 
and vocatives. 

. . . , see the fire engines come ! 

. . ■ . , how the horses gallop ! 

. . . , one of them has fallen. 

. . . , I fear it is hurt 

As the types of the simple sentence which you 
have studied up to this point include all the forms of 
importance which are met with in speech and writing, 
we will give below a table showing all the parts of 
which a simple sentence may be constructed. 

A : as to the Subject: 

1. This may be a single word (as in Lesson I, 
rain, thunder, lightning). 

2. A phrase (as in Lesson XXVII, Being an ele- 
phant, etc.). 

3. A clause (as in Lesson XXVIII, That Spring 
has come, etc.). 

B : As to the Predicate: This may consist of: 

1. A single verb (as, falls). 

2. A verb phrase (is falling). 



EXERCISES 237 



Note : The two great classes of verbs are Transi- 
tive and Intransitive. Among the Intransitive verbs 
we find Copulas, or verbs which require attribute 
words to complete their meaning. 

In this same class we find words that are capable 
of expressing complete predication in themselves 
(Lesson IX). 

Among the Transitive verbs we find active forms 
which take either an object or require an objec- 
tive complement; and we also meet with passive 
forms, some of which make complete predication 
(Lesson VIII) ; while others require attribute com- 
plements. 

C: As to complements; we find : 

1. Single Attributes (Lesson IV). 

2. Phrases used as Attributes (Lesson XXVII). 

3. Clauses used as Attributes (Lesson XXVIII). 

4. We also find single words used as object com- 
plements (Lesson XXV), Phrases used as object 
complements (Lesson XXVII), Clauses used as 
object complements (Lesson XXVIII) ; while both 
single words and phrases are used as objective 
complements. 



238 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

D : As to modifiers : We find that these may con- 
sist of 

1. Single words (as in Lesson XIV). 

2. Phrases (as in Lesson XVIII). 

3. Clauses (as in Lesson XXII). 

The other parts of the sentence may be made up 
of Independent elements, the Vocative, Exclamation, 
Parentheses, and Pleonastic Expressions. 

EXERCISE 

Hints for a story : Select the one which suggests to 
you the greatest number of thoughts. Develop the 
hint into a well-connected story. Try to employ all 
the elements of the sentence which you have become 
familiar with, and make your composition as interest- 
ing as possible. 

I. A fairy tale about chasing Echo to her hiding 
place. 

II. The story of the tiles of an old-fashioned 
chimney-piece to a child. 

III. A boyish combat with snowballs, and the victo- 
rious leader to have a statue of snow erected to Jiim. 



EXERCISES 239 



IV. The voyage of a little boat, made of chip, with a 
birch-bark sail, down a river. 

Hawthorne's American Note Book. 

V. Water as a sculptor. 

VI. Beetles as powder-makers. 

VII. Ants as warriors. 

VIII. The most interesting place in my neigh- 
borhood. 



Lesson XXXIV 

Compound Sentences 

A little thought will make it clear to you that we 
cannot always confine our expressions to sentences 
containing but one subject and one predicate, with 
their respective modifiers. If we should attempt to 
do so invariably, we should find that our sentence 
would be too long, that subject and predicate would 
frequently become so far separated from each other 
as to make it impossible for us to follow the order of 
our own ideas, and that it would be hard for others to 
follow and understand our expressions. We therefore 
find sentences in which two or more distinct state- 
ments are combined. 

Examine the following: 

The sunlight shines and gleams aiid sparkles all 
around, and valley and upland are clothed with 
glory. 

In Lesson XXVI (Compound Subject, Predicate 
and Object) this one sentence appears as two distinct 
sentences. Here, you see, we make two sentences 
one by means of the conjunction and. 



COMPOUND SENTENCES 24 1 

Whenever two or more distinct sentences are joined 
together for the purpose of expressing a thought, 
they form a Compound Sentence. Each one of the 
statements in a compound sentence is complete in 
itself, and for this reason the sentences out of which 
one Compound sentence is made are said to be 
Coordinate. Coordinate means, " of equal rank." 
Thus, in 

1 . The sunlight shines and gleams and sparkles all 
around, 

we have a complete thought; and in 

{and) valley and upland are clothed i?i glory, 

we have another complete thought. The two 
sentences are therefore equal in importance, or 
coordinate. 

Observe in this compound sentence that the shining 
and gleammg of the sunlight and the valley clothed in 
glory, are harmonious parts of one picture. 

Now while this harmonious relation of meaning 
underlies all good compound sentences, we shall see, 
on the other hand, that some sentences are joined 
together in order that one statement or proposition 
may be brought into contrast with another: 

2. A good conscience sleeps in thunder t 

But rest and g2iilt sleep far asunder. 
16 



242 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

3. He was rich and powerful and famous, 
Yet in his manner he was gentle and kind. 

In these sentences two distinct statements are 
joined together for the sake of contrast. Yet not for 
the sake of contrast alone, but also because the ideas 
which one statement contains are associated in the 
mind with the ideas in the statement to which it is 
joined. 

Thus in the sentence : 

4. Spring is a delightful season, but Winter is 
jollier, 

the two sentences are compared, the delightfulness 
of the one suggesting to the mind the jollity of the 
other. But is the conjunction used in joining to- 
gether these contrasting statements. 

Besides expressing harmony or contrast of propo- 
sition, compound sentences frequently set forth alter- 
natives — that is, a choice between two or more 
propositions. 

Example : 

5. You may read, or you may write, or you may 
play. 

Here three distinct propositions are made for the 
purpose of having the hearer choose or accept one 
of them. 



COMPOUND SENTENCES 243 

Many compound sentences are constructed of two 
thoughts which are so closely related that the first 
statement leads up naturally to the second. 

6. I hear the drops falling in the valley, so the rain 
must be coming. 

Notice how the observation expressed in one sen- 
tence leads to the conclusion expressed in the other. 
Observe that so is the conjunction which joins these 
sentences. In this case, so means therefore, for that 
reason. 

7. I see the people running for shelter : therefore it 
must be storming. 

Besides expressing observation and conclusion, the 
two statements of a compound sentence may show 
cause and effect: 

8. The gardener neglected the flowers: therefore 
they have died. 

Now let us examine all the examples of compound 
sentences given above in order to see how their parts 
are connected. 

The two propositions in the first compound sen- 
tence are connected by means of the conjunction 
and. 



244 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The two statements in the second sentence are 
contrasted 'by means of the conjunction but. 

The statements in the third sentence are contrasted 
by means of the conjunction yet. 

In the fourth sentence, a comparison is set forth by 
means of the conjunction but. 

In the fifth sentence, an alternative is presented by 
means of the conjunction or. 

In the sixth and seventh sentences an observation 
and a conclusion drawn from it are connected by 
means of the conjunctions so and therefore. 

In the eighth sentence, a statement expressing 
cause, and a statement expressing effect, are con- 
nected by means of the conjunction tJierefore. 

Observe that the study of compound sentences 
includes the study of those important little words by 
means of which the parts of such sentences are joined 
together. These words, because they join together 
words, phrases, clauses, and sentences of equal rank, 
are called Coordinate Conjunctions. And, but, yet, 
or, nor, so, for, therefore, moreover, altogether, also, 
too, are some of the most important Coordinate 
Conjunctions. 



COMPOUND SENTENCES 245 



Besides these connecting words, we find others, as 
the following : However, notwithstanding, neverthe- 
less, moreover, for, also, too, and the phrasal con- 
junctions as if, such as, as well as, etc. 

NOTE: Connecting words do not always stand at 
the head of sentences. We may say, for example : 

I saw the thief climb into the tree ; I satv him, 
moreover, put his hand into the robin's nest. Then, 
too, the mother-bird followed him. He, nevertheless, 
denied having taken her eggs. 

We frequently find a conjunction standing at the 
head of a sentence or a paragraph, not so much to 
connect sentences as to show that the thought is 
continued, or that certain parts of a discourse or 
composition are related to one another. 

EXAMPLE: " There is always a chance for the man 
who tries" he said. And then he finished. However, 
the people urged him to go on speaking. 

Again, we frequently meet with compound sen- 
tences in which the connecting words are wanting, 
the omission being indicated by marks of punctua- 
tion. When this omission occurs, however, the sen- 
tences are usually so clearly related as to render 
confusion impossible. 



246 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Winter is past ; the heart of Nature warms 
Beneath the wreck of unresisted storms : 
Doubtful at first, suspected more than seen, 
The Southern slopes are fringed with tender green ; 
On sheltered banks, beneath the dripping eaves, 
Spring s earliest nurslings spread their glowing leaves. 

Holmes. 
The quality of mercy is not strained, 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven. 

EXERCISES 

I. Examine the following compound sentences and 
determine what relation the independent statements 
bear to each other. If two or more sentences are 
joined together, determine whether they are so related 
in meaning as to be naturally connected. 

Supply mentally the missing conjunctions. 

Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man s feat- 
ures, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them. 

Thoreau. 

Give thy thoughts no tongue. 
Nor any unproportion d thought his act. 
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar ; 
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel ; 
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 
Of each new-hatch } d, unfledged comrade. 



EXERCISES 247 

Beware of entrance to a quarrel ', but being in, 

Bear V that the opposed may beware of thee, 

Give every man tJiine ear, but few thy voice ; 

Take each man' 's censure, but reserve thy judgment. 

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 

But not expressed in fancy ; rich, not gaudy ; 

For the apparel of t proclaims the man. 

And they in France of the best rank and station 

Are most select and generous, chief in that. 

Neither a borrower nor a lender be ; 

For loan oft loses both itself and friend, 

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 

This above all: to thine own self be true, 

And it must follow, as the night the day, 

Thou canst not then be false to any man. 

Shakespeare. 

Cowards are cruel, but the brave 

Love mercy, and delight to save. Gay. 

Clever men are good, but they are not the best. 

Carlyle. 

Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. 

Pope. 

Friendship above all ties does bind the heart, 
And faith in friendship is the noblest part. 

Shakespeare. 



248 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Habit is a cable ; we weave a thread of it every day 
and at last we cannot break it. Horace Mann. 

Sow an act and y oil reap a habit ; sow a habit and 
you reap a character ; sozv a character and you reap a 
destiny. 

Truth crushed to earth shall rise again ; 

The eternal years of God are hers ; 

But error, wounded, writhes in pain 

And dies among her worshippers. Bryant. 

Kind hearts are more than coronets, and simple faith 
than Norman blood. Tennyson. 

He {Lincoln) was severe with Jiimself, and for that 
reason lenient with others. He cared nothing for place, 
but everything for principle ; nothing for money, but 
everything for independence. Ingersoll. 

The rocks of the earliest period of the earth's history 
show no traces of higher life ; we must therefore con- 
clude that there was a time when man did not exist. 
The reptile-like forms from which birds have evolved 
have been preserved ; also the fossils of many other 
creatures are found in rocks, formed in the far dim 
past. But these rocks show no traces of man, so we 
cannot doubt that man is of comparatively recent 
origin. 



EXERCISES 249 

1. The Lord is my Shepherd ; I shall not zuant. 

2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 
lie leadeth me beside the still zvatcrs. 

3. He restore th my soul: he leadeth me in the 
paths- of righteousness for his name's sake. 

4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art 
with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

Psalm XXIII. 

There are certain species of ants that seem ambitious 
to be supreme, for they frequently go abroad to attack 
the nests of other ants, and when they have conquered 
the inhabitants, they drive them forth, although they do 
not always kill them, nor do they even injure them, but 
content themselves with plundering the captured nests 
and carrying off its treasures. Yet the besieged ants 
will sometimes fight, though they have little chance of 
beating their strong foes, — nevertheless, they sacrifice 
their lives to the cause of their homes and their kindred, 
and it is sweet and becoming to die for one's country, 
even though the country be only a little nest in the 
sand and ones kindred among the least of nature's 
works. 

II. Make a compound sentence out of each set in 
the following. In each compound sentence let the 
statements be contrasted. 



250 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



He looks well. Really he is sick. 

We did our best. We lost the game. 

We thought we were on tune. We were late. 

The exposed places are covered with snow. The 
sheltered southern slopes are green. 

It } s nice to be out of doers. It 's pleasant sitting by 
the fire. 

The possession of wealth is desirable. I would 
rather possess virtue. 

You may play. You mustn't be late for supper. 

III. Make each set of sentences below a compound 
sentence expressing choice or alternation. 

Would you prefer to be rich ? Would you prefer to 
be great f Would you rather be contented ? 

You may have' your cake now. You may have it 
later. 

This child must be still. He must leave the room. 

IV. Make a compound sentence out of each two 
sentences in the following. Let one statement set 
forth an observation, and the other a conclusion, as 
in example 6. 

He has been absent from school. He must be sick. 



EXERCISES 251 

The sky is growing dark. It must be going to 
ram. 

The trees in the distance are bending. I am sure it 
is blowing over there. 

I see the people putting up their umbrellas. It is 
raining. 

V. Compare each of the following sets. Make 
one part of each compound sentence express cause 
and the other effect, as in sentences 6, 7, and 8. 

They refused to study. They have failed to pass. 

They spent their time playing when they should have 
been working. They must make up for it. ' 

Dews and sunbeams nourish the plants. They 
thrive. 

The children walked too far. Their feet are sore. 

We stayed in tlie sun too long. We have headaches. 

VI. You will find below a number of simple sen- 
tences, all of which are more or less related to each 
other. Convert as many of these as you can into 
compound sentences. Be careful in your selection 
of conjunctions. 



252 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

I know the soldiers are coming up the street 
I hear the fifes and drums. 
I see the people running. 
I hear the boys cheering. 
The soldiers have marched a long way. 
They have fought and suffered. 
You can see how tired and sick many of them look. 
The professional soldiers of Europe are skilful. 
Our soldiers are just as brave and good. 
They may not seem so war-like. 
In war they have proved their skill and courage. 

NOTE: A good many people, especially those who 
think and speak carelessly, join together sentences 
that have little or no relationship. And is the con- 
nective which is the most abused in this way. 

The following example of the improper use of 
compound sentences will illustrate our meaning: 

/ went down the street and I was hungry ; but I 
saw a baker' s sign in the distance, and I had no 
money. 



EXERCISES 253 

Here there is a relationship of ideas, but it is not 
well brought out. 

You should try to form the habit of examining the 
sentences which you use in order that you may avoid 
the introduction of any poorly selected or unessential 
words, and also in order that you may form the habit 
of making your thoughts follow one another in a 
logical and harmonious way. 

VII. Point out the simple and compound sentences 
in the following : — 

CATCHING A GRASSHOPPER 

To catch a grasshopper is no slight feat. At the first 
step y on take, at least forty bolt out and tumble headlong 
into the grass ; some cling to the stems, some are 
creeping under the leaves, and not one seems to be 
within reach. You step again ; another flight takes 
place, and you eye them with fierce penetration, as if 
thereby you could catch some of them with your eye. 
You cannot, tJiotigli. You brush the grass with your 
foot again. Another hundred snap out, and tumble 
about in every direction. There are large ones and 
small ones, and middlitig sized ones ; tliere are gray 
and hard old fellows ; yellow and red ones ; green and 
striped ones. It is wonderful to see how populous the 
grass is. If you did not want them, they would jump 



254 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

into your very hand. But they know by your very look 
that you are out a-fishiug. You see a very nice young 
fellow climbing up a steeple stem, to get a good lookout 
and see where you (ire. You take good aim and grab 
at him. The stem you catch, but he has jumped a safe 
rod. Yonder is another, creeping among some delicate 
ferns. With broad palm you clutch him and all the 
neighboring herbage too. Steadily opening your little 
finger, you see his leg ; the next finger reveals more of 
him ; and opening the next you are just beginning to 
take him out with the other hand, when out he bounds 
and leaves you to renew your pursuit. Twice you 
snatch handfuls of grass and cautiously open your palm 
to find that you have only grass. It is quite vexatious. 
There are thousands of them here and there, climbing 
a?id wriggling on that blade, leaping off from that 
stalk, twisting and kicking on that spider's web, jump- 
ing and bouncing about under your very nose, and yet 
not one do you get. Henry Ward Beecher. 



PART II 



Introduction 

In PART I we learned much about the structure 
of sentences as expressions of thought. 

We found that sentences are made up of words 
serving as subjects, predicates, modifiers, and a 
variety of connecting words. 

We learned how to analyze sentences into their 
different parts and to determine what work each 
part has to do in the expression of a thought. 
And in this analysis, we found that each part con- 
sisted of words having different names, according to 
the way in which they were used. 

The science of grammar arranges all these words 
in eight distinct classes, which are called Parts of 
Speech. 

The most important of these parts of speech are 
Nouns, which name persons or things that form the 
subjects of our thought; Pronouns, which represent 
nouns, and Verbs, which express being or doing on 
the part of some object of thought 



256 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Next in importance are the Modifiers. These are 
Adjectives when they modify nouns, and Adverbs when 
they modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. 

Lastly, there are the link-words : the Conjunctions, 
which join sentences or parts of sentences, and the 
Prepositions, which express some relation between the 
different words in our thoughts. 

Note : The copula is also sometimes classed with 
link-words ; but because it is essential to the predi- 
cate, it is usually classed with verbs, with which it 
agrees in form. 

To these must be added still another class of words 
which express some sudden emotion or strong feeling. 
Such words are Ah! Pshaw! Oh! and many others. 
They are called Interjections. 

In the following chapters, we shall study the form 
and grammatical relations of these parts of speech in 
the order named. We shall also learn to parse sen- 
fences, that is, to point out the parts of speech of 
which they consist, and the relations of these parts 
one to the other, 



Nouns 

The word noun is derived from the Latin word 
nomen, a name. Nouns name persons, things, quali- 
ties, states, conditions, as carpenter, dog, table, wood, 
beauty, sleep, marching, growth, etc. 

They are variously classified. The most impor- 
tant distinction is that of Common and Proper Nouns. 

Common Nouns have a distinct meaning. A com- 
mon noun names all things of the same kind or 
class. The name dog is given to every animal of 
the dog-kind ; the name city to every one of a 
certain kind of dwelling-places ; the name carpenter 
to every man who does a certain kind of work; the 
name sleep to a certain distinct condition. 

Proper Nouns are used merely to distinguish certain 
individuals from others of the same kind without 
reference to any qualities they may possess. One 
dog is named Jip, another Ccesar or Columbus, with- 
out any other purpose than the desire to distinguish 
it from other dogs. 

Sometimes, especially in naming persons and 
books, we use several words to make up a proper 



258 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

name, as in George Washington, Mary Jones, Rod- 
erick Random, Dombey and Son. 

NOTE: In writing and printing, proper nouns 
always begin with a capital letter. Common nouns 
begin with a capital letter only when they begin a 
sentence. 

Sometimes, however, proper nouns are used as 
common nouns. Thus we may say, // is rare that a 
Washington is born to a country, when we mean a 
man of the character of Washington. But even in these 
cases the noun so used begins with a capital letter. 

Collective Nouns. — A common noun which names 
a collection of persons or things of the same kind, 
regarded as a unit, is called a Collective Noun. Thus 
we regard a collection of vessels as a unit, when we 
name them a fleet. A flock of birds is a unit made 
up of many birds. Congress, nation, family, herd, 
band, party, are other examples of collective nouns. 

Material Nouns. — Under common nouns are also 
included names of materials, such as gold, iron, 
sugar, lumber, water. These may be called Material 
Nouns. 

Abstract Nouns. — Still another kind of common 
nouns deserves attention. They are the names of 
qualities, feelings, states, or actions. Blackness, 
beauty, love, honesty, length, friendship, are examples 
of such nouns. 



NOUNS 259 



When we speak of blackness, we do not have in 
mind any particular thing of that name, but a certain 
quality of color which may belong to many things ; 
and we think of this quality as separated or drawn 
away from the things in which it may be found. 

For this reason nouns which name universal quali- 
ties, like goodness, badness, wisdom, etc., are called 
Abstract Nouns. Abstract comes from the Latin word 
abstractus, which means drawn away from. In other 
words, abstract nouns name qualities apart from the 
material things which may share them. 

Note : It may be profitable for you to learn the 
endings of the more familiar abstract nouns. 

Of truly English abstract nouns may end in th, t, 
ness, hood, dom, and ship, as growth, length, height, 
loveliness, manhood, freedom, friendship. 

Abstract nouns borrowed from the French usually 
end in ance, ence, or age, as confidence, remembrance, 
opulence, courage. 

Abstract nouns taken from the Latin end in y, ity, 
or ion, as ability, fury, position. 

Class-Nouns. — All other common nouns designate 
persons or things not merely as individuals, but as 
individuals of a certain kind or class. They may, 
therefore, be called Class-Nouns, as dog, city, car- 
penter 



>6o THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

EXERCISES 

1. Read carefully the following sentences, and 
prepare yourself to assign each noun to its proper 
class : 

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day ; 

The lowing Jierd winds slowly o'er the lea. 

There is a chorus of joyful voices thrilling the glad 
air of spring with delight. 

Every flock that wheels and twitters through the 
bine day, ceases from play awhile, and bursts into 
melody which seems the very passion of praise arid 
rejoicing. 

The flock of lambs frolic over the wakening buds on 
the stm-kissed hillside. 

The herd passes slowly through, and every little 
while some sleek heifer raises Iter head and makes the 
woods echo with her lozving. 

A party of little girls, full of innocc7it glee, are gath- 
ering trillium and arb?itus. 

A crowd of violets are nodding in the wiizd from 
the bank, as if they were greeting the merry maidens. 

A group of men and boys are getting ready for 
work. Some crows are watching them, like a dark 
band of robbers, waiting to steal rich morsels of seed 
from the ploughed land. 

Who can tell what delight the springtime brings to 
all the tiny folk of the field! 



EXERCISES 26l 

2. Write under suitable headings in columns the 
nouns you find in the following sentences. Each 
noun need be written only once. Thus, 

Proper Nouns: Class-Nouns: Collective Nouns: Etc. 

William Shakespeare poet literature 

etc. etc. etc. 

The greatest poet in modem literature is William 
Shakespeare. 

The greatest poet in ancient literature is Homer. 

Daniel Webster declared that Charles Dickens has 
done more to better the condition of the poor in England 
than all the statesmen that Great Britain had sent into 
parliament. 

In Abraham Lincoln we find the truest type of 
American nobility, — a nobility not of wealth or name 
but of unselfish deeds and lofty thought. For this 
reason, he was at home everywhere, as much at ease 
in the White House, in the brilliant society of Wash- 
ington, as in the log cabin of his early days. No out- 
ward glory could be greater than his own inward 
ivorth, and nothing in the material world about him 
was so splendid as his own dreams of his country's 
future greatness and spiritual magnificence. 

In books- lies tJie soul of the whole past time. 

Carlyle. 



262 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Wisdom cries out in the street, and no man re- 
gards it. 

All these passings to and fro of fruitful shower and 
grateful shade, and all those visions of silver palaces 
built about the horizon, and voices of moaning winds 
and threatening thunders, and glories of colored robe 
and ray, are but to deepen in our hearts the acceptance, 
and distinctness, and dearness of the simple words, 
" Our Father which art in Heaven." Ruskin. 

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of 
angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding 
brass, or a tinkling cymbal. Corinthians 13. 

3. What one word would you use to represent the 
universal quality belonging to wise people? 

What one word has your mind formed to include 
all the loving acts and words which you have ever 
seen in your life? 

What one word includes all the senators and repre- 
sentatives of the United States at Washington? 

What one word includes all the battle-ships; cruis- 
ers and other war-vessels of a country? 

What word names the state of feeling existing 
between you and your friends? 

What word includes all the persons associated in 
working a ship or a railroad train? 



EXERCISES 263 



What abstract nouns name the qualities which in 
your mind are associated with the idea of gold? of 
lion? of gentleman? of rose? of rainbow? of friend? 

What objects, states, or acts are suggested to your 
mind by the word brittleness? by depth? by bril- 
liancy? by courage? by pity? by patience? 

4. Read the following sketch and distinguish be- 
tween class-nouns and abstract nouns : 

If you were walking along a country road with lovely wild- 
flowers waving in the sunlit air on either side of you, the 
deep blue heavens above and the cool green fields beyond 
them, and little white houses scattered about the hillsides ; 
and if birds were singing in the woodlands and the murmur 
of waters were in the air, — your heart would be touched by 
the beauty of nature. 

It would be hard for you, however, to say just what you 
meant by beauty. You could not point to a flower and say, 
" That is beauty," nor to the heavens above or to the wood- 
lands or the plumy trees and say, " These are beauty." 

Each one of these is, indeed, lovely to behold and brings 
joy to the senses. You can say, " Listen to the beautiful 
song," or " Smell the delicious fragrance of the flowers " ; 
but when you speak of the beauty of nature, you speak of 
something that your eye has never seen, nor your ear heard 
as a distinct and separate thing outside of your mind. 

Only in the mind is it seen ; only in the heart does it live. 



Pronouns 

Pronouns are words used instead of nouns or to 
represent them. There are four distinct classes of 
pronouns, personal, relative, interrogative and indefi- 
nite pronouns. 

Personal Pronouns. — The word person in this con- 
nection is the name of three peculiar relations in 
speech. In the sentence, I sold you a house, /repre- 
sents the person speaking, and is said to be of the 
First Person ; you represents the person spoken to, and 
is said to be of the Second Person ; and house names a 
thing spoken of, and is said to be of the Third Person. 

Personal pronouns of the first person are I, me, 
we, us, mine, my, ours, our ; of the second person, thou, 
thee, you, ye, thine, thy, yours, your ; of the third person, 
he, she, it, him, her, they, them, his, hers, her, theirs, 
their. 

NOTE: The pronouns in these lists printed in 
heavy type are also called Possessive Pronouns, because 
they indicate possession. 

The pronouns my, our, thy, your, him, her, it, and 
them are frequently combined with the noun self, — - 



PRONOUNS 265 



myself, ourselves, etc. Such combinations are said to 
be Reflexive, when they show that the action per- 
formed is reflected back upon, — He eut himself, 
Take care of yourself. 

In other cases, — We ourselves did it, The master 
himself was present, — such combinations serve the 
purpose of emphasis. They are Compound Forms of 
Personal Pronouns, used in apposition with nouns, 
pronouns, or their equivalents. 

Relative Pronouns. — The principal relative pronouns 
are who, whose, whom, ivhich, and that. They intro- 
duce clauses, modifying nouns or their equivalents 
in complex sentences. 

In Men who respect the laws are good citizens, who 
is a relative pronoun; in the clause who respect the 
laws, it takes the place of the noun men, and relates 
the clause as a modifier to the preceding word men. 
The noun men is the antecedent of the relative pro- 
noun. {Ante, Latin, before, and cedens, going.) 

The same is true of the relative pronoun that with 
reference to wealth in Wealth that has been gained 
dishonestly is a curse ; and of whom with reference 
to ladies in The ladies whom you spoke of are 
strangers. 

Interrogative Pronouns. — Who, whose, whom, which 
and what are interrogative pronouns when they intro- 



266 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



duce questions. Who called? What did y on see? To 
whom did you speak ? 

Indefinite Pronouns. — The principal indefinite pro- 
nouns are one, none, some, any, each, other. They do 
not refer to any definite person or thing, but are 
used in a vague way. 

In the sentence, Some one has blundered, the pro- 
noun one stands indeed for person, but not for a defi- 
nite person. The same is true of the pronouns in the 
sentences, Love each other, Some cry, others laugh. 

Whatsoever, whosoever and their variations have a 
similar character, but are usually classed with rela- 
tive pronouns. In whatsoever you do, be tJwrougJi. 
Be courteous to whomsoever you meet. 

The same is true of the pronoun what, when it is 
not interrogative. In the sentence, What you do is of 
more value than what you promise, the pronoun what 
has a vague and indefinite meaning. It is usually 
interpreted as meaning The thing which, a combination 
of the relative pronoun which and its antecedent 
thing. This would make our sentence read, The thing 
which you do, etc. 

This, that, these, and those, when used as pronouns, 
are frequently quite indefinite in meaning. They are 
called, however, Demonstrative Pronouns (demonstro, 
Latin, I show or point out), because they serve to 
point out the persons or things involved in the 
thought. 

For Adjective-Pronouns, see page 300. 



EXERCISES 267 

EXERCISES 

l. Point out the pronouns in the following sentences. 
Determine to which class they belong and what they 
stand for or represent, as in the following example : 

Blessed is he who has found his work ; let him ask 
no other blessedness. 

He, personal pronoun, stands for the person 
spoken of. Who, relative pronoun, antecedent he. 
His, possessive pronoun, third person. Him, per- 
sonal pronoun, third person. 

He is the richest who is content with the least. 

Whatever is worth doing at all is worth domg well. 

These tilings I command you, that you should love 
one another. 

Health is the most precious gem that nature keeps in 
her treasury. It is to be found in the sunlight which 
beautifies all things. It is to be found under the pines 
that lift their evergreens to the stars. It is to be foimd 
in the fields which stretch their green expanses under 
the smiling heavens* It is to be found in all that is 
pure, in all that is innocent, in everything that is good 
and simple. 

Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? Who 
shall dwell in thy holy hill ? 

Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried 
to do well ; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have 



2 58 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

devoted myself to completely ; in great aims and in 
small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest. 

THE LION AND THE DONKEY 

A lion was going to the forest with a donkey who 
had engaged to assist him with his terrible voice. 

An impertinent crow called to him from a tree: 
" What do I see? Who is that queer friend walking 
with you? Are you not ashamed of yourself to be 
seen with a donkey? " 

" By no means," replied the lion, " whoever is use- 
ful to me, is worthy of my company." 

2. In the following sentences, point out all the 
nouns and pronouns. State to what class the nouns 
belong, and treat pronouns as in the preceding 
exercise : 

If there is one virtue that should be cultivated more 
than another by him who ivould succeed in life, it is 
punctuality ; if there is one error that should be 
avoided, it is being behind time* 

The man whom I call deserving the name, is one 
whose thoughts and exertions are for others rather 
than himself. 

I am monarch of all I survey, 
My right there is none to dispute. 



EXERCISES 269 



Thou who wearest that cunning, heaven-made organ, 
a tongue, think well of this. Speak not, I entreat you, 
till thy thought have silently matured itself, hold thy 
tongue till some meaning lie behind to set it wagging. 

He is doubly a conqueror who, when a conqueror, 
cati conquer himself 

JESOV AND THE DONKEY 

" The next time you write a fable about me," said 
the donkey to ^Esop, " make me say something wise 
and sensible." 

" Something sensible from you ! " exclaimed /Esop. 
" What would the world think? They would call 
you the philosopher and me the donkey." 

3. Rewrite the following story and insert suitable 
nouns and pronouns. 

THE BELL OF JUSTICE 

A Roman emperor had lost his sight . . . wished 
that . . . people might not be the worse for. this . . .; 
so . . . hung a bell near . . . palace, and made a 
law that . . . had a wrong to be righted might pull 
the . . . When the . . . rang, a judge was to go 
down to hear the case and right the . . . 

It happened that a serpent had . . . under the 
end of the bell-rope. Here . . . lived with . . . 
young. 



270 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

One day, . . . led . . . out into the sun, and 
while . . . were gone, a toad took possession of the 
place. 

When the . . . returned, . . . could not drive the 
. . . out. So . . . coiled . . . about the . . . and 
rang the . . . of . . . 

The judge came down, but saw . . . , and went 
back. But soon the . . . rang the . . . again in the 
same . . . 

When the . . . came down the second . . . , he 
discovered the ... and the . . . He went back to 
the . . . and told him ... he had seen. 

" It is clear," said the . . . , " that the toad is in 
the wrong. Go and drive the . . . out and let the 
. . . have . . . again." 

A few days after, as the . . . lay in . . . bed, the 
. . . came into the room and moved toward the . . . 
The servants were about to drive . . . away, but the 
. . . forbade . . . 

"The . . . will do ... no harm," he said, "for 
. . . have done . . . justice." 

Then the . . . glided up to the . . . and laid a 
precious stone upon the . . . eyes. Then . . . 
slipped out of the . . . and no . . . saw . . . again. 

But as soon as the . . . had touched the emperor's 
. . . , his . . . was restored and . . . could see as 
well as other . . . 



Nouns and Pronouns. — Number 

I 

NOUNS and pronouns are subject to certain changes 
of form in accordance with certain changes in their 
meaning. These changes relate to Number and 
Gender. 

In Number, a noun or pronoun may designate one 
or more than one of the things named. When it 
designates one, it is said to be in the Singular Number; 
and when it designates more than one, it is said to be 
in the Plural Number. 

This is illustrated in the following sentences : 

Singular Plural 

A dog barks. Dogs bark. 

He is asleep. They are asleep. 

Most nouns form their plural number in writing or 
printing by the addition of s or es to the singular 
form. 

day.?, trees, keys, eyes, rows, shoes; 
logs, loads, ribs, paths; 
locks, lots, ships, widths, reefs; 
robes, nodes, bale.?, doves, names; 



272 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

rope.?, note.?, cakes, clothes; 
edges, niches, faces, noses; 
torches, box^s, losses, dishes. 

In speaking, however, the s of the plural number 
has the sharp sound of s, only when it follows the 
sounds of/, k, t, p y or sJiarp th, as in the third and 
fifth lines of the examples given above. In all other 
cases, it has the sound of z. 

The plural number of nouns is formed by the 
addition of es, when the singular form ends in ch, s/i, 
s, or x> as in the last line of the above examples. 

In reading these examples, you will notice that 
the es has the sound of ez. You may also notice 
that it adds a second syllable to the singular form. 

Similarly, you may observe in reading the words 
in the sixth line of the examples, that the plural 
gains an additional syllable by the addition of s to 
the singular form. This is always the case when 
the singular form ends in ce, ge, se, xe, ze, or che, as 
in faces, cages, edges, vases, axes, mazes, niches. 

EXERCISES 

1. Form orally the plural number of the following 
nouns : 

skiff, room, rainbow, bag, back, lake, pick, pig, 
bib, tribe, pipe, Sunday, pie, arch, ark, barge, locket, 
margin, bee, kite, boot, glass, youth, fife, package, 



EXERCISES 2?Z 



horse, knoll, flower, lathe, cloth, lath, bench, wedge, 
ray, paper, moon, rake, rag, stitch, porch, mate, race, 
hope, boat, moss, light, sash, nose, depth, table, link, 
metal, tax, lid, bank, lip, shoe, chaise, step. 

2. Write a list of all the plurals from the preced- 
ing exercise in which s has the sharp sound of s, as 
in backs. 

3. Write a list of all the plurals in the first exer- 
cise in which the plural gains a syllable. 

II 

The following special cases deserve careful study : 

a. Nouns whose singular forms end in o preceded 
by a consonant, add es for the plural, as, potatoes, 
cargoes, Jieroes. Others add s, as, folios, cameos. 

Exceptions : cantos, juntos, solos, quartos, octavos, 
duodecimos. 

b. Nouns ending in i properly take s, although es 
is used by some writers, as, alkalis, or alkalies. 

c. Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant, 
change y into i and add es, as, mercies, ladies, 
qualities. 

To proper names, however, used as common nouns, 
many writers simply add s, as the eight Henrys, mean- 
ing eight Kings named Henry ; there are no other 

Marys, meaning girls named Mary. 

18 



2 74 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

d. The following nouns change the final f or fe 
into v and add es : leaf, leaves ; sheaf, sheaves ; loaf, 
beef, thief, calf, half, elf, self, shelf, wolf, life, knife, 
wife. All others simply add s, as, roofs, fifes, skiffs. 

Notice that in speaking, s after / or fe has the 
sharp sound of s, but after ve the flat sound z. 

e. The following nouns are plural in form, but are 
usually treated as singular nouns: 

amends odds alms 

news pains (effort) means 

f The following list contains nouns that can be 
used only in the plural number: 



annals 


embers 


pliers 


ashes 


measles 


scissors 


bellows 


molasses 


shears 


bowels 


mumps 


trousers 



g The singular forms gallows and summons add 
for the plural es : gallowses and summonses. 

h. Corps, an organized military division, is written 
the same for the singular and plural; but the singu- 
lar is pronounced kor, and the plural korz. 

i. Ethics, mathematics, politics, and other names 
of sciences ending in ics are singular. 



EXERCISES 275 



EXERCISES 

1. Write in opposite columns the singular and plural 
forms of the following nouns: 

Reef, buffalo, toy, beauty, curio, calf, gulf, alloy, 
sky, attorney, folio, charivari, negro, dwarf, thief, 
chief, olio, safe, soliloquy, joy, echo, grief, army, 
volcano, solfeggio, ruby, chimney, display, pot-pourri, 
shelf, solo. 

2. In the following sentences, insert in the place of 
the dash is or was, if the subject is to be construed as 
a singular noun, and are or were, if it is to be con- 
strued as a plural noun. 

The ashes blown about by the wind. Bad 

news traveling fast. The bellows broken. 

In some states the gallows abolished. The scis- 
sors lost. Ethics taught in this college. . 

The amends he made satisfactory. The first 

army corps defeated. Politics the science 

of government. His trousers torn. The sum- 
mons unexpected. Three army corps 

organized. 

Would you say, He took much or many pains to 
please me ; In this enterprise the odds is or are against 
him ? 



2J6 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



III 

The following nouns form the plural by a change 
in the vowel-sound of the word : 



Singular 


Plural 


Singular 


Plural 


man 


men 


tooth 


teeth 


woman 


women 


mouse 


mice 


foot 


feet 


louse 


lice 


goose 


geese 







The plural of child is children, of ox, oxen. Kine is 
an old plural form of cow. 

The following is a list of nouns that have two 
plural forms differing in meaning: 



Singular ist Plural 

brother brothers (by blood) 

cloth cloths(kindsof cloth) 
die dies (stamps) 

genius geniuses (men of 

genius) 
penny pennies (coins of 

that name) 
fish fish (considered in 

a mass) 



2d Plural 

brethren (of the same 

society) 
clothes (garments) 
dice (cubes for games) 
genii (demons or 

spirits) 
pence (value in pen- 
nies) 
fishes (considered sep- 
arately) 



NOUNS AND PRONOUNS 2jy 

Deer, grouse, hose, sheep, swine, vermin and 
rest (meaning the remainder) are the same in both 
numbers. 

Cattle and pulse are always plural. 

Similarly, we speak of a troop of horse (cavalry), 
and of a company of foot (infantry). 

The names of numbers, weights, and measures 
are often unchanged in the plural, as, six score, four 
hundred, five thousand, six million, four hundred- 
weight, three brace, a two-foot rule, a five-dollar bill 
(but a bill of five dollars). 

When a letter, figure or other character is used 
as a noun, its plural is usually formed by the addition 
of (\r), as, two m's, three 2's, too many ? 's. 

IV 

Among pronouns, only the Personal and Demonstra- 
tive Pronouns are affected in form by number. 

The singular forms of the personal pronouns are /, 
my, mine, me ; thou, thy, thine, thee ; lie, she, it, his, 
her, hers, its, him. 

The plural forms are we, our, ours, us ; ye ; they, 
their, theirs, them. 

You, yours, your are used for both numbers in 
ordinary speech in order to represent the person or 
persons spoken to. Ye, thou, thy, thine, and thee are 



2;8 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

used only in the Bible, in poetry, and in dignified 
or unusually impressive style. 

For convenience, these forms of the personal pro- 
nouns may be arranged as follows : 

Singular Plural 

\st Person: I, my, mine, me we, our, ours, us 

, ^ f vou > your, yours (you, vour, yours 

2d Person : ] \ 

Lthou, thy, thine, thee lye 



yi Person 



he, his, him 

, , f they, their, theirs, 

she, her, hers { 

I them 
it, its 



Remember that my, mine, your, yours, thy, thine, 
his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs are also called 
Possessive Pronouns. 

Remember also that personal pronouns com- 
pounded with self form the Reflexive Pronouns myself, 
ourselves, etc. 

Observe that number in pronouns is shown not 
merely by a change of vowel or consonant in the 
same word, but by words which are entirely different 
from each other. 

We, in fact, does not mean several I's, for there 
can be only one /. We means, rather, you and I, he 
and I, etc. You (plural) may mean several persons 
spoken to ; but it may also mean you (singular) and 



EXERCISES 279 

he or she or they. And they may mean he and //*?, /^ 
and she, or many persons or things spoken of. 

The singular Demonstrative Pronouns, this and that, 
form the plurals these and those. 

All other pronouns have the same form in both 
numbers, with the exception of one and other which 
form the plurals ones and others. 

All pronouns agree in number with their ante- 
cedents, i. e., the nouns for which they stand. 

EXERCISES 

1. In the following sentences, parse all the pro- 
nouns, stating class, number, and antecedent, as in 
the example : 

EXAMPLE: We admire the lovely flowers, growing 
in the open air. They are the true guides of man 
to the place which their Maker intended them to 
inhabit. 

We, — personal pronoun, plural, represents the per- 
son speaking and the others he includes. 

They, — personal pronoun, plural number, to agree 
with its antecedent flowers. 

Which, — Relative pronoun, singular number, to 
agree with its antecedent place. 

Their, — possessive pronoun, plural number, to 
agree with its antecedent flowers. 



280 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

A famous musician told my father one day that he 
was invited to a party at which he was to play in 
rivalry with a young stranger. 

" I shall make mince-meat of him," he said. 

The next day my father asked him, " How did you 
succeed? " 

" Oh ! " he said, " I shall never forget the day. I 
never heard such playing. The young stranger 
played in a way which was a surprise to us. He 
gave us some of his own compositions, which were 
truly wonderful. He brings out of the piano tones 
which we never dreamed of." 

" What is the young man's name?" asked my 
father. 

" His name is Beethoven." 

2. Parse all the nouns and pronouns in the follow- 
ing sketch, naming class and number and, in the case 
of pronouns, the antecedent or what the pronoun 
represents. 

The tiny creatures which live on plants are too 
small to be seen with the naked eye. They feed on 
leaves and petals as cattle feed in our meadows. 
They shelter themselves under a down which is too 
fine to be seen by us; and they drink nectar of 
liquid gold and silver from cups that shine like the 
sun. 



EXERCISES 28l 

Each part of the flower must show to them a sight 
of which we can form no picture to ourselves. The 
yellow seed-pods that wave on their white stems may 
look to some insects like double rafters of gold on 
pillars fairer than ivory; and the cup of the flower 
must seem to others a glorious valley of ruby and 
topaz, through which run rivers of nectar and honey. 

The other parts of the flowers, to their tiniest of 
eyes, may appear as urns and domes which, though 
men pride themselves on highest skill, they would 
never be able to imitate. 



Nouns and Pronouns. — Gender 

By its Gender a noun or pronoun indicates whether 
or not sex is considered in the thing named, and, if 
sex is considered, whether we think of it as male or 
female. 

Nouns. — Names of male beings are said to be in 
the Masculine Gender, — man, boy, master, gander. 

Names of female beings are said to be of the 
Feminine Gender, — woman, girl, mistress. 

Names that apply equally to male and female 
beings are said to be of the Common Gender, — child, 
being, animal, bird. 

Names of things, qualities, actions, conditions, and 
forces, having no sex, are said to be of the Neuter 
Gender, — arm, table, gold, length, flight, sleep, heat. 

The gender of nouns is indicated in a variety of 
ways. 



NOUNS AND PRONOUNS 



283 



By different words : 
masculine feminine common 



boy 




girl 






child 


father 




mother 




parent 


son 




daughter 


child 


nephew 




niece 






husband 




wife 






lord 




lady 






king 




queen 






horse 




mare 




horse 


gander 




goose 




goose 


2. By certain suffixes: 






masculine 


feminine 






masculine feminine 


widower 


widow 






host 


hosto\T5 


actor 


actress 






]u\i? is 


Julkz 


count 


countess 


hero 


heroine 


emoeror 


empress 




executor excut/zli 



3. By composition with words indicating sex 



masculine feminine 

///^//-servant maid-servant 
he-goat she-goat 

cock-soarrow /^^-sparrow 



masculine feminine 
father-bird mother-bird 
turkey-cock turkey-hen 
bridegroom bride 



When there are no special forms to designate sex, 
the same noun serves for masculine, feminine, or 



284 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

common gender, according to context. In the 
following sentences the noun frie?id is, successively, 
of feminine, masculine, and common gender: 

Mary is my friend. John is my friend. I have 
many friends. 

We frequently have occasion to speak of things, 
feelings, qualities, actions, conditions, or forces, as if 
they were persons. They are then said to be personi- 
fied, and become either masculine or feminine, in 
accordance with a variety of considerations for which 
mythology, history, or common usage furnish reasons. 
They usually begin in writing with a capital letter. 

Thus Love, Anger, War, Tune, the Ocean, the Sn/i, 
when personified, are generally masculine ; but Reli- 
gion, Virtue, Peace, Pity, the Earth, the Moon, the 
Church are feminine. 

Sailors personify their ships, train-men their locomo- 
tives, engineers their engines, making them generally 
feminine. The names of countries, when personified, 
are feminine. 

Pronouns. — Among personal pronouns, only the 
third person singular indicates gender in the form of 
the word : 

he, his, and him are masculine ; 

she, hers, and her ar 'e feminine ; 
it and its are common or neuter. 



EXERCISES 285 

Among interrogative and relative pronouns, who, 
whose, and whom stand for persons and are masculine, 
feminine, or common according to context ; which 
and what stand for animals, things, and abstract ideas, 
and are common or neuter according to context. 

NOTE: Whose is often used in place of the phrase 
of which; as, A country whose people, etc., Birds 
whose beaks are, etc. In such cases, whose is con- 
strued as of neuter or common gender. 

The relative pronouns that, as, and but, as well as 
alt other pronouns not named above, are the same for 
all genders. 

EXERCISES 

1. In the following sentences, parse the nouns and 
pronouns, stating class, person, number, gender, and, 
in the case of pronouns, the antecedent : e. g. 

SUN: common noun, third person, singular num- 
ber, personified into masculine gender. 

HIS: personal pronoun, third person, singular num- 
ber, masculine gender, antecedent — sun. 

GLORY: abstract noun, third person, singular, 
neuter. 



286 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Behold the sun in his glory. He sends his beneficent 
rays on all beneath. The bountiful earth pours forth 
her living treasures in rich harvests. The birds rejoice 
and sing praises to them. The limpid brook that winds 
thraugh the glen murmurs its quiet joy. 

Who can remain indifferent in the presence of such 
gladness ! Whose heart can fail to respond to the 
gratitude that fills the eartli ! Is there any one who 
would not offer thanksgiving to God, from whom pro- 
ceed all blessings ! 

2. In the following sentences, the personal pro- 
nouns stand for certain personified antecedents. 
Select from the list of nouns at the head of the 
sentences, the antecedent the writer had in his 
mind. 

The sun, death, the Mississippi, the moon, the 
night, a ship, the wind, our country, Mars (the planet, 
named for the god of war), winter, pity. 

He pours his turbid floods into the sea. 

She spreads her sable mantle over the land. 

He holds the mighty river in his icy embrace. 

Her soft light is on fields and meadows. 

His angry voice roars in the tree-tops. 



EXERCISES 287 



The wretched never appeal to her in vain. 

She glides in majesty over the waves. 

In glory he sinks into his rosy couch. 

All living things are subject to his call. 

To die for her, if need be, is highest glory. 

The ample folds of his glistening mantle are on hill 
and vale. 

His ruddy glow porte?ids grim-visaged war. 

In every grief and sorrozv, she is near with soothing 
word and helping hand. 

None ca7i escape his final call. 

Her light lay on the mountain-top like limpid silver. 

3. Personify in suitable sentences the following 
nouns, using personal pronouns to indicate the 
gender. 

America, the eagle, the bee, war, industry, spring, 
summer, science, wisdom, Venus (an evening star), 
Jupiter (another evening star), morning, day, night, 
a maple-tree casting a broad shadow, the Amazon 
River, a volcano, liberty, the robin, the nightingale, a 
locomotive, a rain-cloud, famine, plenty, fortune. 



Nouns and Pronouns. — Case 

Number and Gender indicate certain modifications 
of nouns and pronouns in meaning, while Person 
shows the relation of the thing named to the speaker. 
There is still a fourth property of nouns and pro- 
nouns ; namely, that which shows their relation to 
other words in the sentence. This fourth property is 
Case, which is another word for relation. 

Thus, when a noun or pronoun is the subject of 
a sentence or a predicate-noun, or in apposition 
with one of these, it is said to be in the Nominative 
(naming) Case: The house is large. He is tired. The 
dog is an animal. My friend Henry has arrived. 
I, your brother, will help you. 

When a noun or pronoun indicates possession or 
ownership, it is in the Possessive Case : 

/;/ my Father 's house are many mansions. 

In my Father s love there is eternal peace. 

When a noun or pronoun is the object of a verb or 
preposition, it is in the Objective Case: We sold 
the house. He sees me. This is the house of my 
father. Come to me. 



EXERCISES 



When it names the person or thing addressed, 
calling for attention, it is in the Vocative (calling) 
Case: Come, John. Lord, I pray to thee. O thou, 
whom no one names without fear, have mercy. 

EXERCISE 

Name the cases of nouns and pronouns in the 
following sentences: — 

Boys, you have done your duty nobly. The king's 
baker dreamed a dream. This book contains i?iany 
stories of interest. My son, you may take the book to 
your teacher. Gentle is her speech, and her actions are 
kind. O my daughter, you are the comfort of my 
waning days. My father is kind to me, and I am 
grateful to my father. The captain s ships were lost at 
sea. Great is my hope of ultimate success. Come to 
my aid, O Father, and keep me from evil. In all 
things we should speak the truth and act with 
hojiesty. 

You may have noticed that the possessive case of 
nouns is the only one that has a special form. All 
other cases are the same in form in each number. We 
can recognize these other cases only by the relation 
the nouns have to other words in the sentence. 

The possessive of nouns in the singular number is 
formed by the addition of apostrophe s ('s) to the 

iq 



290 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

nominative singular. The same change is made 
with the plural nouns men, women, children, and 
brethren, which end in n (men's, women's, chil- 
dren's, brethren's). 

Other plural nouns form the possessive case by 
the addition of the apostrophe alone {boys' hats, our 
fathers' houses). As in these cases the possessive 
plural is the same in sound with the possessive 
singular, it is well, in speaking, to use instead of the 
possessive plural a modifying phrase with the prep- 
osition of or for (hats for boys, the houses of our 
fathers). 

With singular nouns ending in the sound of s, 
custom varies. We hear and write correctly for 
goodness' sake, Jones's children, Chambers' and Cham- 
bers ' s e7i cyclopedia . 

NOTE: As a rule, the possessive case of nouns is 
used chiefly with names of living beings. We do 
not say a table' s leg, but we speak of a dog's leg or 
a man's leg. It is used, however, with the days of 
the week, country, sun, moon, heaven, river, and other 
words that are frequently personified (Monday's 
work, our country's welfare, the suns rays, the river's 
brink, for mercy's sake, etc.). 

When several nouns connected by and form a 
compound phrase, such as the name of a firm, the 



EXERCISES 29 1 

sign of the possessive is added to the last noun 
only {Smith and Broivns place of business). This is 
also the case when two or more nouns are in apposi- 
tion (my brother William's death). When, however, 
Smith and Brown are not in partnership, and their 
possessions are considered separately, each name 
takes the possessive sign (Smith's and Brown s places 
of business). 

EXERCISE 

Change the following expressions by substituting 
the possessive case of a noun for the possessive 
phrase made with a preposition ; e. g., John's books, 
instead of the books of John. 

The books of John; the friend of my sister Mary; 
boots for men : the sake of conscience ; games for 
children ; the writings of Emerson ; the store-house 
of Green & Smith; the heat of the sun; the tail 
of a fox; the arrival of our friend and brother 
Henry ; the greetings of love ; the feast of last 
Saturday; the brothers of Jones; the brothers of 
my partner Jones ; the works of Roberts ; the suc- 
cess of men and women ; the mane of a horse ; the 
failure of Smith, Brown, & Co. ; the happiness of 
my father and my mother; the enterprise of the 
new railroad company; the future of our country; 
the opinion of many good men ; the heat of last 
summer; the pleasures of next week. 



Cases of Pronouns 

The cases of Personal Pronouns are shown in the 
following table : — 

Nominative. Possessive. Objective. Vocative. 

(Sing. — all gen. I mine or my me 

ist pey -\pi u — all gen. we ours or our us 

( Sing. — all gen. you [thou] yours or your you [thee] you [thou] 
zd per. -J [thine or thy] 

\Plii. — all gen. you [ye] yours or your you you [ye] 

I mas. he his him 

fern. she hers or her her 
common 

and it its it 
neuter 

\Plu. — all gen. they theirs or their them 



id per. 



EXERCISES 

1. Study the above table and answer the following 
questions : — 

Which persons and numbers have the same forms 
for all genders? Which person and number has 
different forms for the different genders? Which 
person has a vocative case? Which case has the 
same form as the vocative case? Which person has 
the same forms for singular and plural? Which 
gender has special forms for poetry and solemn 



EXERCISES 293 



discourse? Which persons, numbers, and genders 
have the same forms in the nominative and objec- 
tive cases? Which have different forms in these 
two cases? Which have only one form in the pos- 
sessive case? In which person, number, and gender 
is the objective case like one of the possessive 
forms? 

2. Parse the personal pronouns in the following 
sentences. State class, person, number, gender, case, 
and antecedent. 1 

Said John to Mary, " / shall do all in my power to 
aid you. Your success shall be mine!' 

Said Henry to Mary, " You may be sure that he will 
do all he promises to you. I knozu his generous nature, 
and I have never known him to fail his friends? 

Said Mary to John, " I thank you for your kindness 
to me and my people. We shall always remember it 
gratefully. Your Jiappiness shall ever be ours!' 

With these words they parted. Their hearts were 
filled with kindly feelings. They did not dream that 
mutual distrust would soon come to them. 

But the human heart is changeable. It may hate to- 

1 Remember that the possessive forms my, our, thy, your, her, and 
their are used only to modify nouns ; that mhie, ours, thine, yours, 
hers and theirs, are used only to represent nouns ; and that his and its 
are used for both purposes. In old English and in solemn speech and 
poetry, mine and thine are used for my and thy before nouns beginning 
with the letter h or with a vowel, as mine host, thine enemy. 



294 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

morrow its love of to-day. New situations constantly 
assail it and change its attitude. 

As was said of old, " Thine enemy may look in the 
heart of thy friend ; certainty is not for thee" and, " O 
ye who love and trust, beware of the days that may 
change the hearts of your friends" 

The changes in form for other pronouns are shown 
in the following table : — 

Nom. Poss. Object. 

i for persons 1 who whose whom 

T „ . , for animals 

Interrogative. — Both numbers \ J what what 



J and things 



eneral 2 which which 

for per sons 1 who whose whom 
for animals which [whose] 3 which 

and things what what 

that that 

general X but 4 but 



Relative. — Both numbers 



1 The interrogative pronouns who, whose, and whom are, as a rule, 
used only for rational beings. Yet in fables they are used also for 
animals which, for the sake of the story, are considered as rational. 

2 Which, used interrogatively, means which one (or ones) or what 
kind, as, Which house (or houses) will you buy? Which apples do you 
prefer ? 

3 The relative pronoun %uhose is frequently used for things as well 
as for persons. The country whose citizens, etc. The house whose roof. 
etc. Yet, for material things, it is preferable to use of zvhich, as, 
The house of which the roof, etc. 

i But stands for zvho not or which not after a negative clause, as, 
There was no man but would (meaning who would not) have done his best. 
There is no house but would (meaning which zvould not) afford shelter. 

5 As is used now as a relative pronoun only after such, same, so 
great, so much, etc. : e. g. Scenes such as you would enjoy. In Shakes- 
peare's time as was employed in many cases where now we would use 
that. That gentleness as I was wont to have. 



EXERCISES 295 

Indefinite. — The only indefinite pronouns that have different forms 
are one and other. They follow the rules of nouns. 
In the possessive singular they make one's and 
other's, in the nominative plural ones and others, 
in the possessive plural ones' and others.' 

Demonstrative. — The demonstrative pronouns this and that make 
the plurals these and those. They have no other 
forms. Remember that they are also used as 
limiting adjectives. 

Pronouns agree in person, number, and gender with 
the nouns for which they stand ; but their case 
depends on their relation to other words in the clause 
in which they are used. 

The relative pronoun is sometimes omitted. Thus 
we have, Is this the man you saw (instead of whom 
you saw) ? This is the house I like (instead of that I 
like). 

EXERCISES 

1. Study the above table of pronouns and answer 
the following questions : 

Which of these pronouns have distinct forms for 
each case? Which case is wanting in all these pro- 
nouns? Which of these pronouns have no possessive 
case? With which of these pronouns are the nomi- 
native and objective cases alike? Which of the 
properties of person, gender, number, and case have 
no influence on the forms of these pronouns? Which 
of these pronouns have only one form? 



296 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

2. In the following sentences, parse in full all the 
pronouns. 

God helps those who help themselves. 

He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, 
And all are slaves besides. 

Evil comes to all who do evil. 

How poor are they whose wealth does good to none. 

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. 
In whatsoever you do, consider the end. 

What you say is of less value than what you do. 

The greatest failure is his whom evil crowns. 

Some do good, others have good done to them : which 
will you choose ? 

What they promised us was good, but in their actions 
they failed us. 

Let such teach others, who themselves excel. 

There were none but could sing a song. 

Who said that I had forsaken thee ? 

Can one do more than one's strength permits ? 

Would we praise one who gives up truth ? 



EXERCISES 297 

My hope is the same as filled your heart for many 
days. 

3. Analyze the following sentences, and parse all 
nouns and pronouns in full. 

The evil that men do lives after them. 

We cannot injure others without injuring ourselves. 

Whoso will not heed warning, must suffer loss. 

Our hatred cannot touch him whom God loves, and 
whose heart is filled with righteousness. 

No joy is greater than that which comes of generous 
deeds. 

No griefs are keener than those that come to him who 
has himself to blame. 

Who has not enjoyed the glories of the sunset, the 
gorgeous hues that light up the clouds, the birds whose 
evening song fills the air! 

We honor men who do their duty, whom no obstacle 
can intimidate, whose tJwughts never wander from their 
purpose. 



Adjectives 

ADJECTIVES are words used with nouns to modify 
their meaning. They are divided into two large 
classes : Descriptive and Limiting Adjectives. 

Descriptive Adjectives express qualities or attributes 
of the things named by the nouns they modify. On 
this account, they are also named Qualitative or 
Attributive Adjectives. 

Limiting Adjectives limit or show the application of 
nouns to the things named. 

In both classes, certain adjectives have been vari- 
ously grouped in accordance with certain peculiarities 
of meaning or derivation. 

Thus, descriptive adjectives derived from proper 
nouns have been named Proper Adjectives (American, 
English, Japanese) ; they are written and printed 
with capital initials. Adjectives derived from parti- 
ciples have been termed Participial Adjectives (beaten 
path, traveling salesman, dazzling colors) ; others 
which indicate the materials of things have been dis- 
tinguished as Material Adjectives (iron beams, wooden 
shoes) ; and still others that are made up of several 
words have been called Compound Adjectives (sun- 
burnt, ironclad, downcast). 



ADJECTIVES 299 



Among limiting adjectives you may remember and 
explain the terms Quantitative Adjectives (all, much, 
little); Numeral Adjectives (two, three, four, etc.)/ 
Demonstrative Adjectives ( this, that, yonder) ; Distribu- 
tive Adjectives (each, several, every). 

Among numeral adjectives we find also the follow- 
ing groups: Cardinal Numerals (one, two, three, etc.) ; 
Ordinal Numerals (first, second, third, etc.) ; Multipli- 
cative Numerals (single, double, threefold, etc.) ; and 
Partitive Numerals (half, third, fourth, etc.). 

Limiting adjectives are often used without the 
nouns to which they refer. They are, then, sometimes 
called Indefinite Pronouns (see page 266), but they may 
also be parsed as Adjective-Pronouns or as Pronominal 
Adjectives, as they partake of the character of both 
adjectives and pronouns. Examples: Many are 
called, but few chosen. Let no one fail me. The 
first boy arose, and then the next, and the next, until 
all stood. All trees are beautiful to me, but this is 
my favorite. 

An important limiting adjective is the little word 
the. It has no power or meaning beyond particular- 
izing the noun before which it stands. For this 
reason it is also called the Definite Article, in order to 
distinguish it from the Indefinite Article a or an, 
which denotes one thing of a kind, without indicating 
any particular one. ' When we say, The tree has been 
blown down, we refer to some particular tree which 



300 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

we have in mind; but when we say, A tree has been 
blown dozvn, we mean an object belonging to the class 
tree without referring to any particular tree. 

Note that a is used before a consonantal sound (a 
man, a boy, a house, a unit, a yard), while an is used 
before a vowel sound {an old man, an idle boy, an 
owl, an umbrella). 

Adjectives are used in sentences in two ways: 
(i) attributively, that is, directly with the noun as a 
modifier of the noun, — green leaves, good men: 
(2) predicatively, that is, as predicate-adjectives con- 
nected with their nouns by copulas, — Leaves are 
green, Men are good. 

When used attributively, they may stand before or 
after their nouns, — Great and small men, all must 
die, or, Men, great and small, must die. In the latter 
case, they are also said to be in apposition, or used 
appositively. 

When descriptive adjectives are used without the 
nouns to which they refer, they are usually parsed as 
nouns, as in the following : I love the good but fear the 
wicked ; Green is my favorite color; Pity the poor. 

Usually, when used in this way, these adjectives 
have the same form for both numbers and lack the 
possessive case. Thus, the sentence, I love the true 
and good, may mean, I love goodness and truth, or, 
I love good and truthful persons. 



ADJECTIVES 301 

To this, however, there are exceptions. Adjec- 
tives of color, for instance, when used as nouns, have 
a plural form ; we speak of dark and light greens, 
reds, etc. Also proper adjectives, when used as 
nouns, unless they end in the sound of s, z, sh, or in 
ine, form a regular plural in s. We speak of the 
Americans, the Brazilians, the Bostonians ; but the 
English, the Chinese, the Swiss, the Florentine do not 
change for the plural. 

The only adjectives which, as adjectives, have a 
plural form, are the demonstrative adjectives this and 
that, which make these and those. 

On the other hand, nouns are frequently used as 
adjectives, as in mountain brook, glass houses, winter 
landscape. Such combinations are often strengthened 
into compound nouns, such as barndoor, wheat-field. 
Some adjectives, chiefly those expressing state or 
condition, are used only predicatively. Such are 
ablaze, afraid, aglow, aghast, asleep, awake, etc. 

Most descriptive and a few limiting adjectives are 
subject to changes of form for purposes of Comparison. 
In language, it is customary to distinguish three 
degrees or grades of comparison. Some boys, for 
example, may be kind, others kinder, others still 
kinder, that is, kindest of all. Here kind is called the 
Positive Degree, kinder the Comparative Degree, and 
kindest the Superlative Degree of Comparison. 

The Positive Degree is the simple form of the adjec- 
tive. It designates the standard of comparison. 



302 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



The Comparative Degree expresses an increase or 
greater degree of the quality or limitation. It is 
formed by adding er to the simple form of the adjec- 
tive, or by prefixing the adverb more : — greater, braver, 
uglier, freer, sadder, more beautiful, more diligent, etc. 

The Superlative Degree expresses the highest point 
reached by the quality or limitation. It is made by 
the addition of est to the simple form of the adjective, 
or by prefixing the adverb most: — greats, bravest, 
ugliest, freest, sadd^, most beautiful, most diligent. 

The following adjectives form their degrees irregu- 
larly : 



Positive 


Comparative 


Superlative 


Bad, evil, ill 


worse 


worst 


far 


farther 


farthest 


fore 


former 


foremost 


good 


better 


best 


hind 


hinder 


hindmost 


late 


later, latter 


latest, last 


little 


less 


least 


many, muc 


h more 


most 


nigh 


nigher 


nighest, next 


old 


older, elder 


oldest, eldest 




inner 
nether 
outer, utter 


innermost, inmost 
nethermost 
outermost, uttermost 










utmost 




under 


undermost 






upper 


uppermost 



EXERCISES 303 



When it becomes desirable to indicate degrees 
of comparison lower than the positive degree, the 
adverbs less and least are used before the simple form 
of the adjective: — beautiful, less beautiful, least 
beautiful. 

EXERCISES 

In the following exercises, be especially careful to 
distinguish adjectives used as nouns or pronouns, 
and nouns used as adjectives. 

l. Classify the adjectives in the following sentences. 
State what words they modify, and, when they are 
used as pronouns, what they stand for. 

In October the persimmon is round, pulpy, and soft, 
with a delicate bluish bloom on its plump cheeks like 
that oil the grape or plum. 

Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep. 

A dewy freshness fills the silent air. 

What wonders met our bewildered gaze ! 

All join to guard what each desires to keep. 

Under a spreading chestnut-tree, 

The village smithy stands ; 
The smith, a mighty man is he, 

With large and sinewy hands ; 
And the muscles of his brawny arms 

Are strong as iron bands. Longfellow. 



30 4 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

It is time that a little more stress be laid on simple 
honesty. It is not every man who can be a great saint 
or a mighty preacher, but every ma?i can be faithful in 
his work. 

Level lines of dewy mist lay stretched along the 
valley, out of which rose the massy mountains, — their 
lower cliffs in pale gray shadow, hardly distinguishable 
from the floating vapor, but gradually ascending till 
they caught the sunlight, which ran in sharp touches 
of ruddy color along the angular crags and pierced in 
long level rays through their fringes of spear-like 
pine. ♦ 

2. Classify the adjectives in the following sen- 
tences, and determine at the same time whether the 
descriptive adjectives are used attributively, predi- 
catively, or appositively. 

The derivation of words is like that of rivers : There 
is one real source, usually small, unlikely, and dijficidt 
to find, far tip among the hills; then, as the word 
Hows on and comes into service, it takes to itself the force 
of other words from other sources, and becomes quite 
another word — often more than one word — a word, 
as it were, of many waters, sometimes both sweet and 
bitter. 

I find myself in the Umfraville Hotel, a quarter of a 
mile long by a furlong deep ; in a ghastly room, five- 



EXERCISES 



305 



and-twenty feet square and eighteen high, — that is to 
say, just four times as big as I want. 

The fact is that there are idle rich and idle poor ; 
and there are busy poor and busy ricJi. . . . There is a 
working class, strong and happy, among both rich and 
poor ; there is an idle class, weak, wicked, and miser- 
able, among both ricJi and poor. 

3. Do the same in the following, but name also the 
degrees of comparison. 

Not many natural phenomena are more beautiful 
than an approaching shower. 

We look before and after, 
And pine for what is not ; 
Our sincerest laughter 

With some pain is fraught ; 
Our sweetest songs are those which tell of saddest 
thought. Shelley. 

For of all sad words of tongue and pen, 

The saddest are these : "It might have been." 

Whittier. 

Dear though the shadowy maple be, 

And dearer still the whispering pine, 

Dearest yon russet-laden tree, 

Browned by the heavy-rubbing kine. 
20 



306 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

4. Parse in full the nouns, pronouns, and adjectives 
in the following passage: 

But I was curious to ascend 
To my barred windows, and to bend 
Once more upon the mountains high 
The quiet of a loving eye. 
I saw them, — and they were the same. 
They were not changed like me in frame ; 
I saw their thousand years of snow 
On high, — their wide, long lake below, 
And the blue Rhone in fullest flow ; 
I heard the torrents leap and gush 
O'er channeled rock and broken bttsh ; 
I sazv the white-walled distant town, 
And whiter sails go ski7?tming dow?z ; 
And then there was a little isle, 
Which in my very face did smile, 
The only 07ie in view ; 
A small, green isle, it seemed no more, 
Scarce broader than my dungeon floor ; 
But in it there were three tall trees, 
And o'er itfleiv the mountain breeze. 
And by it there were waters flowing > 
And on it there were flowers growing 
Of gentle breath and hue. 

Byron 



Verbs 

A VERB is a word employed as the predicate-base 
of a sentence in order to make some assertion in 
regard to the subject, or as a copula to aid some 
other word in making an assertion. 

According to this distinction, they may be divided 
into Copulative and Attributive Verbs. 

They are Copulative when they serve to connect a 
predicate-noun or predicate-adjective with the sub- 
ject for the purpose of assertion, as 

The chickadee is a merry bird. 

The chickadee is (see Lessons IX and XXV). 

They are Attributive when, in addition to asserting, 
they express some attribute of action or being, as, 

The horse runs (is running). 
The boy rests (is resting). 

An attributive verb is said to be transitive when it 
expresses an action which implies an agent and an 
object towards which the action is directed, as, 



308 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Agent Action Object 

The Danes invaded England. 

(See Lesson VI.) 

An attributive verb is intransitive when it ex- 
presses action, being, or condition of being that is 
limited to the subject alone and implies no object, as, 

John works. Roses bloom. 

In the beginning was the word. 
The air feels soft. 

NOTE : Sometimes copulative verbs are classed 
with intransitive verbs as intransitive verbs of in- 
complete predication, in order to distinguish them 
from intransitive verbs of complete predication. 

In the above sentences, works, bloom and was are 
intransitive verbs of complete predication, and feels 
is an intransitive verb of incomplete predication. 

No hard or fast rule can be laid down for the 
classifying of verbs as transitive or intransitive, for 
the class to which any verb belongs must be deter- 
mined by its use in the sentence, and as verbs in 
English express a variety of meanings we shall find 
that in one sentence the same verb may be transitive 
and in another intransitive. 



VERBS 309 

Compare the following: 

Intransitive Transitive 

He walked fast. He walked the horses. 

I stood on the bridge at He stood the table in the 

midnight. corner. 

The robins fleiv away. The hoys flew their kites. 

The birds sang. The child sang a song. 

The teacher speaks. The boy speaks his piece. 

The weather changes. The bobolink changes his 

dress in summer. 

NOTE: There is a peculiar class of verbs which 
must here be noticed. This class consists of verbs 
which were originally intransitive and which were 
usually accompanied by a preposition. Nowadays, 
the preposition forms an inseparable part of the verb, 
which on this account is transitive, as, 

He was laughed at by the people. 

Here the preposition at is so closely connected 
with the verb that it cannot be taken away without 
destroying the sense. 

Haul in, put up, fill out, gloss over, put on, tuck 
under, are verbs of this character. 



310 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

EXERCISES 

1. Point out the transitive and intransitive verbs in 
the following. Distinguish those which are usually 
intransitive and those which may be either one or 
the other. 

Hurry, stop, changes, weaves, spin, rest, sleep, dream, 
seem, go, run, sink, stand. 

2. Each two of the following sentences may be 
completed by the addition of a similar verb. 

The boy . . . his top. 

The iv o rid . . . on its axis, like a great top. 

The children are late, so they . . . along to school. 
The mother . . . her children along the street. 

When the steam is shut off, the machinery . . . 

The thief was running fast, but the officer . . . him. 

The weather . . . from fair to foul. 
The grocer . . . a dollar bill. 

The sunlight . . . on the grass. 
They . . . the sleep of the just. 

The artist . . . his picture on the wall. 
The ripe fruit . . . on the vine. 

Causative Verbs : There is a peculiar class of intran- 
sitive verbs that have certain forms which make them 
transitive. 



VERBS 



3" 



Intransitive. 
Present : 
FALL: The snow faf/s. 



Past: 

The snowflakes fell. 



Transitive. 



Fell (to cause to fall) : 
The woodman fells the 
tree. 



The woodman felled the 
tree. 



Past Participle : 

The snowflakes have The woodman has felled 
fallen. the tree. 

Present : 

« 

Rise : Moisture rises RAISE (cause to rise) : 

Scarcity of wheat raises 
the price of bread. 



from the earth. 



Past : 

The moisture rose from The scarcity of wheat raised 

the earth. the price of bread. 

Past Participle : 

The moisture has risen The scarcity of wheat has 

from the earth. raised the price of bread. 

Present : 

Sit : The child sits on Set (to cause to sit) : The 

the grass. child sets his soldiers on 

the floor. 



312 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Intransitive. Transitive. 

Past: 

The child sat on the The child set his soldiers 
grass. on the floor. 

Past Participle : 

The child has sat on the The child has set his sol- 
grass, diers on the floor. 

Present : 

Lie: The child lies on Lay (cause to lie): The 
the grass. child lays his head 

among the flowers. 
Past: 

The child lay on the The child layed his head 
grass. among the flowers. 

Past Participle : 

The child has lain on the The child has layed his 
grass. head among the flowers. 

The verbs in the left-hand column are intransitive, 
while those in the right-hand column are transitive. 
Notice that the transitive verbs differ from the intran- 
sitive verbs by certain changes in their spelling, as 
well as in their meaning. 

The intransitive verbs tell of simple action, while 
their corresponding transitive forms express causes 
of action. For this reason they are called Causative 
Verbs. 



EXERCISES 313 

NOTE : These Causative Verbs are frequently con- 
fused with the intransitive verbs from which they are 
formed. It is therefore important that the principal 
parts of each set should be thoroughly memorized, 
and that the difference in meaning between the 
intransitive forms and the transitive forms should 
be carefully noted. 

EXERCISES 

The blanks in the following sentences are to be 
filled with the correct forms of the following verbs : 
fall and fell, rise and raise, sit and set, lay and lie. 

Fall and Fell: 

A sound tree cannot fall, unless the woodman . . . 
it with his axe. 

Very little rain will . . . , if we . . . our forest 
trees. 

The prosperity of some places has . . . to a low ebb, 
because the farmers have . . . all their trees. 

Rise and Raise: 

Moisture rises from trees ; and this moisture helps 
the farmers to . . . good crops. 

When the golden corn and wheat rose above the 
earth, we may not have stopped to think of the forces 



314 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

that . . . them; and when the clouds, teeming with 
life, have risen in the heavens, did we consider what 
has . . . them there t 

Sit and Set: 

When we sit tinder the' shade of noble trees do we 
ever ask what power . . . their green leaves against 
the heavens ? 

The little birds that . . . on the trees may be mind- 
ful of the Great One who has . . . the graceful elms 
and the wide-spreading beech in the woods and 
meadows, and perhaps it is the little bird ' s thought of 
this beneficent power that . . . his song ringing in the 
glad air. 

We sat on the beach and watched, the fishers as they 
. . . their lobster traps. 

The wind blew hard as we rose and . . . our faces 
toward home. > 

Many a time I have . . . on the shore while the 
fishermen have . . . their traps and have^ . . . the sails 
of their boat and have . . . their course homeward. 

Lie and Lay: 

Miracles lie everywhere about us. The little ants 
that . . . their plans for their sand cities; the provi- 
dent squirrel that . . . away a store of nuts against 



VERBS 315 

the grudging winter; the mother bird that . . . her 
speckled eggs in the nest that . . . hidden amid the 
branches ; the cooling rain that . . . the dust of the 
highway; the old tree that . . . rotting, and the mother 
partridge that ... her little ones beneath it, — these 
all are wonders that ... constantly before us. 

Lay and Laid: 

I once . . . on a bank and watched the railway 
laborers as they . . . the tracks, and as I . . . there I 
thought of the wonderful changes that had been 
wrought since the time when the panther and the bear 
. . . down to rest in the same place ; when the red 
men . . . the spoils of the hunt on the mosses of the 
primitive forest, and when the trapper . . . his snares 
for the innocent animals of the woods. 

Lain and Laid: 

Along the very path zvhere the laborers have . . . 
the ties and the rails, the wild ivy and the mosses have 
. . . in profusion ; and the deer, safe from trap and 
gun, have . . . among them. 

Before we lie down at night, let us lay up in our 
hearts the pure memories of the treasures that God has 
. . . before us. 

Auxiliary Verbs (see Lesson X, XI, XII) : Verbs 
are said to be atixiliary when they assist in modifying 



31 6 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

the meaning of other verbs in the formation of tense, 
and of the passive voice ; in indicating continuity of 
action or being, possibility {may), ability (can), and 
compulsion {must), and in negative, interrogative, 
and emphatic sentences {do). 

May, can, must, and shall are generally used as 
auxiliary verbs. 

Be is used as a copulative verb {God is good), and 
as an intransitive verb of complete predication {God 
is, was, and ever shall be). 

Have, do, and w ill are also used as transitive verbs 
(/ have a book. I do my duty. God wills that it 
shall be so). 

Reflexive Verbs: In such sentences as, / wash my- 
self, we have a transitive verb followed by a reflexive 
pronoun (himself) as its object. These verbs may 
be classed as Reflexive Verbs. In some sentences the 
reflexive pronoun is frequently omitted, as in, He 
dresses well, in which himself is omitted. We wash 
in cold water, means, We wash ourselves, etc. 

Reciprocal Verbs: Similarly, verbs that take a recip- 
rocal pronoun — each other or one another — for object 
are sometimes classed as Reciprocal Verbs, as in fight 
each other. With such verbs, too, the reciprocal 
pronoun is frequently omitted, as in Cats and dogs 
fight (each other) whenever they meet (each other). 



VERBS 317 

Impersonal Verbs: Verbs describing natural phe- 
nomena, such as, rain, hail, snow, freeze, and which 
are constructed into sentences with the help of the 
impersonal subject-sign it, may be classed as Imper- 
sonal Verbs. 



Verbs, continued 



VOICE 



VOICE is a modification in the form of the verb 
which shows whether the subject of the verb is con- 
sidered as doing, or as suffering or as receiving the 
action expressed by the verb. Consequently, there 
are two Voices : the Active Voice, in which the subject 
is represented as doing the action, and the Passive 
Voice, in which the subject is represented as suffering 
or receiving the action described by the verb. For 
illustrations see pages 58-62. 

The Active form is the simple form of the verb. 
(This we have already considered on pages 57-58. 
Examples: I see, I saw.) The Passive form is made 
with the help of the auxiliary Be and the Passive 
Participle of the principal verb (page 58): / am 
seen, I was seen, etc. 

The Passive Participle is the same in form as the 
Perfect Participle. For this reason it is sometimes 
called the Passive Perfect Participle. 

Following is the conjugation of the verb Strike in 
the two voices. 



VERBS 



319 





Indicative 


Mode 


Active 


Passive 


Present 


I strike 


I am struck 


Pres. Per/. 


I have struck 


I have been struck 


Past 


I struck 


I was struck 


Past Perf. 


I had struck 


I had been struck 


Pit tu re 


I shall strike 


I shall be struck 


Put. Perf. 


I shall have struck 


I shall have been struck 




Imperative 


Mode 


Active 


Passive 


Present 


Strike 


Be struck 



Subjunctive Mode 



Active 



Present (If) I strike 

Pres. Perf. If I have struck 

Past If I struck 

Past Perf. If I had struck 

Future If I should strike 

Put. Perf. If I should have struck 



Passive 

(If) I be struck 
If I have been struck 
If I were struck 
If I had been struck 
If I should be struck 
If I should have been struck 



Only transitive verbs, i. e., verbs that have an 
object receiving the action, have a passive voice 
(pages 52-53). 



In writing letters, in speaking, and in preparing 
compositions, you will often have occasion to choose 
between the active and the passive forms of verbs. 
If, for example, some one asked you the question, 
" Who wrote this letter?" You would answer, "/ 



320 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

wrote it" for the emphasis on I would call attention 
directly to the agent asked for in the pronoun who. 
If, on the other hand, some one said, " This letter is 
beautifully written" you might then say, " That letter 
was written by me" giving the prominent position to 
the thing admired, and speaking of yourself as the 
one by whom it was written. 

Another use of the passive is that it enables us to 
make statements without naming the subjects : Birds' 
nests are often torn down. 

If we used the active form of the verb, we should 
have to name the subject: 

Cats often tear down birds' nests. 

Now this is a great advantage, for sometimes we are 
at a loss for a subject, and yet, by using the passive 
form, we can make a statement without it. 

// is said that he is rich. 

Here it, as you know, is an impersonal pronoun by 
which we try to express some unknown or indefinite 
agent. 

The passive also makes it possible to form brief 
and forcible sentences: — 

/ zvas promised them. 

The fuller form would be, 

They were promised to me. 



VERBS 321 



To sum up, the passive enables us to give to our 
sentences several desirable qualities. 1. It helps 
us to give prominence to an idea which in the active 
form would be the object, by making it the subject of 
our thought: — 

Such things are considered bad. 

Here things is really the object of men's considera- 
tion, i. e., Men consider such tilings bad. But as we 
wish to call attention to the tilings considered, we 
leave men out altogether and give emphasis to tilings 
which thus become the subject of our thought. 

2. By making the agent, or subject, indefinite, we 
direct attention entirely to that which is acted upon, 
and so make statements of a general nature : — 

All men are declared free and equal. 

England has been invaded several times. 

If we make England the object of invaded, we are 
then compelled to name the several subjects : — 

The Danes invaded England. 

The Normans invaded England. 

The Picts an i Scots invaded England. 



322 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

3. By combining the passive form of a verb with a 
preposition, we are enabled to express our thoughts, 
not only with directness, but also with that ease which 
is characteristic of every-day speech : — 

/ am done for {— Some one has done for me). 

Some people are trodden on (= The world treads on 
some people). 

Details zvere dispensed with. 

He was laughed at 

Cassio hath been set on in the dark. 

Right emphasis is seen in the sentences under 1, 
Freedom from detailed explanation, without loss of 
clearness, is seen in the sentences under 2. Brevity 
and ease are characteristic of the sentences under 3. 

EXERCISE 

Change the form of the verbs in the following to 
the passive. Some of the sentences may be shortened 
by dropping the subject. Others can be made more 
direct. 

In America , the constitution has declared men free. 

A sage lays down this maxim : evil communications 
corrupt good manners. 



EXERCISES 



323 



When Stephenson i the inventor of tJie locomotive, 
spoke of driving a train at the rate of ten miles an 
hour, people laughed at him. No one had ever heard 
of such folly : and even intelligent men smiled at his 
assertion. Men that the world gibes at are often the 
world's greatest benefactors. 

When people brought to the Roman authorities the 
news that Galileo had announced that the world moved, 
they sent for him. They ordered him to declare that 
he had made a mistake. To save his life, he made the 
declaration, but we must not believe that because of this 
he had lost his faith in the truth. 

Three gentlemen spoke to me. They asked for yo?t. 
You must apologize for your conduct. We shall talk 
over the proposition. 

NOTE : Parsing exercises may be assigned from 
selections of this and other chapters. 



Verbs, continued 
NUMBER 

Read the following: 

" English is void of those cumbersome differences of 
cases, genders, modes, and tenses, which I think was a 
piece of the tower of Babylon s curse, that a man might 
be put to school to learn his mother tongue!' 

Sir Philip Sidney. 

This passage, written by a famous English poet, 
sets forth one of the most remarkable character- 
istics of English, namely, its freedom from con- 
fusing elements. 

At one time, English, like Latin and Greek, was a 
highly inflected language, so much so that to us Old 
English, or Anglo-Saxon, is practically a foreign 
tongue. Nearly all of these ancient modifications of 
form, or inflections, have disappeared, however; so 
much so that with the exception of pronouns, the verb 
be, and the third person singular of verbs in general, 
modern English is entirely free from inflections. 

The way in which a word is used in a sentence is no 
longer determined by its form, but by its position in 



VERBS 325 



the order of our ideas, and by its logical relation to 
the other words in the sentence. Some few inflec- 
tions do remain, however, and these have to do with 
Number, Person, Mode, and Tense. 

First, as to Number. 

In all inflected languages, verbs change their form 
in order to agree with their subjects in number and 
person. The verb be is an example of an inflected 
verb, showing, as it does, four changes of form made 
in agreement with changes in the number and person 
of the pronouns /, thou, he (or she), we, you, and they. 

Thus, I am, thou art, he or she is; we, you, they 
are. 

So far as ordinary spoken English is concerned, all 
other verbs have only one change of form, namely, 
the s of the third person singular. 

NOTE : In poetry, in the Bible, and in some prose 
writers, we find the forms st of the second person 
singular, as, Thou knowctf, and -th or -eth, of the 
third person singular, as, He know^ ; She covneth. 
These forms, however, are not generally used. 

This freedom from "cumbersome differences" 
makes it easy for us to avoid any errors in agreement 
between noun and verb, as regards person and num- 
ber. All we have to remember is, that a subject in 
the singular takes a verb in the singular, and that 
plural subjects have plural verbs. 



$26 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The violation of this simple rule is not always due 
to ignorance of it, but (i) to a difficulty in knowing 
whether the subject is singular or plural, and (2) to 
the influence of plural nouns or pronouns placed 
between a verb and its subject. Examples : — 

( 1 ) Ethics are a noble study. 

(2) Every one of them have been away. 

In sentence 1 the subject is singular. In sentence 
2, every one (singular) is the subject, but the influence 
of the plural pronoun them leads the speaker into 
using a plural verb. 

Study the following simple rules. 

a. Collective nouns are singular and therefore take 
singular verbs : The committee meets. The army 
marches. 

b. The words half, most, all, when they refer to a 
number of persons or things, are plural: Only half 
of the invited guests have arrived. 

c. Titles of books, though they name more than one 
person or thing, are singular: Thackeray 's Virginians 
is a fine story. 

d. Two things may be regarded as one and there- 
fore take a singular verb: Bread and jam is nice, but 
bread and butter is more wholesome. 



VERBS 32/ 

e. The conjunctions either — or, neither — nor, 
separate nouns and pronouns, so that each thing 
named is considered apart from the other and there- 
fore requires a singular verb : — 

Either he or she is mistaken. (Full form, either he 
is mistaken or she is mistaken?) Neither the man nor 
the boy was found. (Full form, Neither the man was 
found, nor was the boy found?) 

NOTE : The following is peculiar : 

Neither he nor we were present. 

In this sentence, he is left without a verb ; this is 
also the case in such sentences as, Neither the king 
nor his ministers were just. Either your child or you 
were expected. 

The rule in such sentences is, that the verb agrees 
with the noun or pronoun nearest to it. 

/. Don't is a contracted form of do not. It should 
never be used with a subject in the third person, 
singular number, in the place of does not or its con- 
tracted form doesn't. 

• g. Phrases and phrasal conjunctions denoting mere 
accompaniment, or an attendant circumstance, are 
not to be regarded as making the subject compound : 

The victor, with his men, rides away. 
The girl, as well as the boy, was late. 



328 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

EXERCISE 

Which of the two forms in the sentences below do 
you consider correct? Give your reasons. 



Every one of us ! on hand. 

■ J l were 

Neither he nor you \ there. 

-' ( were 

His collection of shells and butterflies \ the finest 
in town. 



Mathematics \ a wonderful branch of human 

I are J J 

knowledge. 



its 
only a jaunt when one is in merry 

company. 

She is one of the best teachers that \ , " ever lived. 
J I nave 

Eight hours a day \ enough for play. 

rr^t • \ nas , • i 
lhe jury { , retired. 
J -* ( nave 

The company j , n departed. 



\ ts 

The Travels of Mungo Park \ ^ delightful reading. 



VERBS 



The party j ^ quite large. 



329 



The conqueror, with all his followers and admirers, 

( withdraws ,- ., ~ 7 , 
\ ... , tro?u the field. 

[ witnarazv J J 

Not one of the persons that have been here this even- 
ing j , _ f had a word of criticism. 

The audience, as well as the speaker, \ C deeply 

r I were * J 

moved. 



TENSE 

By certain changes in form and with the help of 
auxiliaries, a verb can show three divisions of time, — 
Present, Past, and Future ; and in each division of time 
it can indicate whether the action or condition of be- 
ing is considered as incomplete or complete, imperfect 
or perfect. 

We may have, therefore, six tenses : Present (imper- 
fect), Present Perfect, Past (imperfect), Past Perfect, 
Future (imperfect), Future Perfect. 

The Present, Past, and Future Tenses indicate that the 
action or condition of being is considered as occur- 
ring at the time named or implied. The Perfect 
Tenses indicate that the action or state of being 
is considered as completed at the time named or 
implied. 



330 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The Present Tense is the simple form of the verb 
{I build, I look, I see, I go, I sleep), with such changes 
of form as person and number may require. 

The Past Tense is formed in various ways : by the 
addition of ed to the simple form of the Present 
Tense: / looked; by changing the final d of the 
simple form of the Present to t: I built; by a 
change in the vowel of the Present: / saw ; by a 
combination of such changes: / slept ; or finally, by 
the use of an entirely different word : / went. 

A few verbs remain unchanged for the Past Tense, 
e. g., beat, cast, burst. 

The Future Tense is formed by placing before the 
simple form of the verb the auxiliary shall for the 
First Person, and the auxiliary will for the Second 
and Third Persons : 

I (we) shall learn, 

You (he, they) will learn. 

Thou wilt learn. 

Note : Shall and will are not always used as mere 
sign-words to express futurity, but with distinct 
meanings of their own. In the sentence, / will go, I 
tell you, the verb will expresses determination : the 
sentence means more than I shall go, it means / am 



VERBS 331 

determined to go. Similarly, in the sentence, You shall 
do your lessons, the verb shall has the force of must ; 
it expresses compulsion. 

This is further illustrated in the following sen- 
tences: 

Thou shalt not steal. I will take this course in spite 
of all you say. You shall not hinder me. 

The Perfect Tenses are formed by placing before the 
Perfect Participle of the principal verb suitable forms 
of the auxiliary have. 

For the Present Perfect we use the Present tense 
of the auxiliary and the Perfect Participle of the prin- 
cipal verb ; for the Past Perfect, the Past of the 
auxiliary and the Perfect Participle; for the Future 
Perfect, the 'Future of the auxiliary and the Perfect 
Participle of the principal verb. 

In the following list the six tenses of the verb See 
are arranged in regular order. Only the first and 
third persons singular are given, as it will be^sasy for 
you to supply the other persons and numbers. 

Present I sec, he sees. 

- Pres. Perf. I have seen, he has seen. 

Past I saw, he saw. 

Past Perf. I had seen, he had seen. 

Future I shall see, he shall see. 

FuL Perf. I shall have seen, he will have seen. 



332 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

In reviewing this list, you will notice that the prin- 
cipal verb See occurs in three distinct forms, — see in 
the Present, saw in the Past, and seen in the Perfect 
tenses. These three forms, see, saw, seen (the Present, 
Past, and Perfect Participle) are called the Principal 
Parts of the verb see. 

According to the manner of forming the Past and 
the Perfect Participle, verbs are classed as Weak or 
Strong Verbs. 

They are classed as Weak Verbs when they form 
the Past Tense and the Perfect Participle by adding 
ed, d, or / to the simple form of the Present, as look, 
looked ; love, loved ; creep, crept. 

When this addition is made without change in the 
vowel of the Present, the verb is a Regular Weak Verb ; 
but when the verb also changes the vowel of the 
Present, it is an Irregular Weak Verb. Love — loved, 
hate — hated, listen — listened are regular; but dwell 
— dweltj say — said, teach — taught, sell — sold are 
irregular. 

Among Irregular Weak Verbs are classed also (i) 
those which for the Past and Perfect Participle change 
the final d of the Present into t, as bend — bent, gild — 
gilt ; (2) verbs ending in d or / in the Present and 
which do not add ed or t for the Past and Perfect 
Participle, as cut — cut, read — read, lead — led, etc. 



VERBS 



333 



LIST OF IRREGULAR WEAK VERBS 

Note : For reference only ; not for memorizing. 
This direction applies to all lists given under verbs. 



Present 


Past and Per. Part. 


Bend 


bent 


Bereave 


bereft, bereaved 


-Beseech 


besought 


Blend 


blent, blended 


Breed 


bred 


Bring 


brought 


Build 


built 


Burn 


burnt 


Burst 


burst 


Buy 


bought 


Cast 


cast 


Catch 


caught 


Clothe 


clad, clothed 


Cost 


cost 


Creep 


crept 


Cut 


cut 


Deal 


dealt 


Dream 


dreamt, dreamed 


Dwell 


dwelt 


Feed 


fed 


Feel 


felt 


Flee 


fled 


Gild 


gilt, gilded 


Gird 


girt, girded 


Have 


had 


Hear 


heard 



334 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Hit 
Hurt 
Keep 
Kneel 
Knit 
Lay- 
Lead 
Learn 
Leave 
Lend 
Let 
Light 
Lose 
Make 
Mean 
Meet 
Pay 
Put 
Read 
Rend 
Rid 
Say 
Seek 
Sell 
Set 
Shed 
Shoe 
Shred 
Shut 
Sleep 



hit 

hurt 

kept 

knelt 

knit 

laid 

led 

learnt, learned 

left 

lent 

let 

lit, lighted 

lost 

made 

meant 

met 

paid 

put 

read 

rent 

rid 

said 

sought 

sold 

set 

shed 

shod 

shred, shredded 

shut 

slept 



VERBS 



335 



Slit 


slit 


Speed 


sped 


Spell 


spelt 


Spend 


spent 


Spill 


spilt, spilled 


Spit 


spit (spat) 


Split 


split 


Spoil 


spoilt, spoiled 


Spread 


spread 


Sweat 


sweat 


Sweep 


swept 


Teach 


taught 


Tell 


told 


Think 


thought 


Thrust 


thrust 


Weep 


wept 


Wet 


wet 


Work 


wrought, worked 




EXERCISES 



1. Arrange alphabetically the verbs that change 
the sound of e (ee or ea) in the Present to e (e or ea) 
for the Past. 

2. Arrange alphabetically the verbs that have the 
same forms and sounds in the Present and Past. 

3. List the verbs that change ay to at. 

4. List the verbs that change d of the Present to / 
in the Past, but retain the vowel.- 



336 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

5. List the verbs that change the vowel of the 
Present into ongh for the Past. 

6. List the verbs that do not come under any of 
these classes. 

Strong Verbs, in forming the Past, change the vowel 
of the Present but do not add d or /, as rise — rose, sit 

— sat, tear — tore. The Perfect Participle, in some 
strong verbs, is the same as the Past, as in spin — spun 

— spun. In others it takes a still different vowel, as 
in sing — sang — sung; and in still others it adds ;/ 
or en, as in tear — tore -. — torn, rise — rose — risen. 

LIST OF STRONG VERBS 
Present Past Per. Part. 

Abide abode 

Arise arose arisen 

Awake awoke, awaked awoke, awaked 

Bear (carry or endure) bore born 

Bear (bring forth) bore borne 

Beat beat beaten, beat 

Begin began begun 

Behold beheld beheld, beholden 

Bid bade, bid bidden, bid 

Bind bound bound, bounden 

Bite bit bitten, bit 

Blow blew blown 

Break broke broken, broke 



VERBS 



337 



Chide 


chid 


chidden, chid 


Choose 


chose 


chosen 


Cleave (divide, 


split) clove, cleft 


cloven, cleft 


Cling 


clung 


clung 


Come 


came 


come 


Crow 


crew 


crowed, crown 


Dig 


dug, digged 


dug 


Do 


did 


done 


Draw 


drew 


drawn 


Drink 


drank 


drunk, drunken 


Drive 


drove 


driven 


Eat 


ate 


eaten 


Fall 


fell 


fallen 


Fight 


fought 


fought 


Find 


found 


found 


Fling 


flung 


flung 


Fly 


flew 


flown 


Forbear 


forbore 


forborne 


Forget 


forgot 


forgotten 


Forgive 


forgave 


forgiven 


Forsake 


forsook 


forsaken 


Freeze 


froze 


frozen 


Get 


got 


got, gotten 


Give 


gave 


given 


Go 


went 


gone 


Grave 


graved 


graven 


Grind 


ground 


ground 


Grow 


grew 


grown 


Hang 


hung 


hung 


Heave 


hove, heaved 


hove, heaved 



38 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Hew 


hewed 


hewn 


Hide 


hid 


hidden 


Hold 


held 


held 


Know 


knew 


known 


Lie 


lay 


lain 


Load (lade) 


loaded 


laden, loaded 


Melt 


melted 


melted, molten 


Mow 


mowed 


mown, mowed 


Ride 


rode 


ridden 


Ring 


rang 


rung 


Rise 


rose 


risen 


Rive 


rived 


riven, rived 


Run 


ran 


run 


See 


saw 


seen 


Seethe 


sod, seethed 


sodden 


Shake 


shook 


shaken 


Shape 


shaped 


shaped, shapen 


Shave 


shaved 


shaven 


Shear 


sheared, shore 


shorn, sheared 


Shine 


shone 


shone 


Shoot 


shot 


shot 


Show 


showed 


shown 


Shrink 


shrank 


shrunk 


Sing 


sang, sung 


sung 


Sink 


sank 


sunk, sunken 


Sit * 


sat, sate 


sat 


Slay 


slew 


slain 


Slide 


slid 


slidden, slid 


Sling 


slung 


slung 


Slink 


slunk 


slunk 


Smite 


smote 


smitten 



VERBS 



339 



Sow 


sowed 




sown 


Speak 


spoke, 


spake 


spoken 


Spin 


spun 




spun 


Spring 


sprang 


, sprung 


sprung 


Stand 


stood 




stood 


Stave 


stove, 5 


staved 


stove, staved 


Steal 


stole 




stolen 


Stick 


stuck 




stuck 


Sting 


stung 




stung 


Stink 


stank, : 


stunk 


stunk 


Strew 


strewed, strowed 


strewn, strown 


Stride 


strode 




stridden 


Strike 


struck 




struck, stricken 


String 


strung 




strung 


Strive 


strove 




striven 


Swear 


swore 




sworn 


Swell 


swelled 




swollen, swelled 


Swim 


swam, 


swum 


swum 


Swing 


swung 




swung 


Take 


took 




taken 


Tear 


tore 




torn 


Thrive 


throve, 


thrived 


thriven, thrived 


Throw 


threw 




thrown 


Tread 


trod 




trodden 


Wake 


woke, waked 


waked, woke 


Wear 


wore 




worn 


Weave 


wove 




woven 


Win 


won 




won 


Wind 


wound 




wound 


Wring 


wrung 




wrung 


Write 


wrote 




written 



340 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



EXERCISES 

1. Arrange alphabetically the verbs that form the 
Perfect Participle by adding n, en, or ne. 

2. The verbs that form the Perfect Participle by a 
mere vowel change without adding n, en, or ne. 

3. The verbs that have the same forms for the 
Past and the Perfect Participle. 

4. The verbs that have a regular form in the Past. 

5. The verbs that have a regular form in the Per- 
fect Participle. 

6. The verbs that have /, a, ;/, like sing, sang, 



7. The verbs that have i, u, u, like stick, stuck, 
stuck. 

8. The verbs that have i, ou, ou, like find, found, 
found. 

9. The verbs that have ea, o, o, like bear, bore, 
borne. 

10. The verbs that have a, oo, a, like take, took, 
taken. 

11. The verbs that have i, o, i, like rise, rose, risen. 

12. The verbs that have ew in the Past, like Blew. 



VERBS 341 

NOTE: The majority of Strong Verbs are native 
English words ; the Weak Verbs are mostly importa- 
tions. The foreigners, however, greatly outnumber 
the native words. The influence of foreign verbs, 
forming their past with the help of added letters, has 
resulted in the loss of some excellent and homely 
English forms. Thus, the past tense of climb was 
once clomb, as in Milton : Clomb into the fold ; that 
of cliide was chade ; that of creep was crope ; and the 
past of help was holp. The changes in the form of 
these words have resulted from the desire to make the 
lesser number of words similar in form to the greater 
number; and this accounts also for the fact that some 
verbs have two forms both for the past and for the 
perfect participle. 

It is still necessary to enumerate the Progressive, 
Negative, Interrogative, and Emphatic forms of tenses. 

The Progressive form (see pages 70-74, Part I) is 
made with the six tenses of the auxiliary Be and the 
Imperfect Participle of the principal verb, as follows: 

Present I am going. 

Pres. Perf. I have been going. 

Past I was going. 

Past Perf. I had been going. 

Future I shall be going. 

Fitt. Perf, I shall have been going. 



342 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

For the use of the auxiliary Do in the construction 
of Interrogative, Negative, and Emphatic forms, see 
Lesson XII of Part First. 

EXERCISES 

1. Read again the two exercises on pages 72 and 
74, and prepare yourself to name for each verb its 
principal parts, its class, its tense and form, its person 
and number, and the subject with which it agrees in 
person and number, as in the following examples: 

babbles, — principal parts, babble, babbled; weak; in- 
transitive; present tense; third person singular, 
to agree with its subject river. 

are throwing, — principal parts, throw, threw, thrown; 
strong ; transitive ; present tense ; progressive 
form; third person plural, to agree with its sub- 
ject sycamores and maples. 

2. Do the same in writing with any six verbs in the 
completed part of the exercise on page 72, Part I. 

3. Supply the missing verbs in the following sets 
of sentences, and be ready to parse each verb as in 
Exercises 1 and 2. 

The farmer drives the cows to the barn. He . . . 
them to the meadow this morning. He . . . just . . . 
a new pasture. 



EXERCISES 343 



The engineer blows the whistle. He . . . it last 
week at our crossing. He . . . not always . . . it 
there. 

Whatever I have to do, I . . . as well as I can. I 
had something to do yesterday, and I ... it with all 
my might. I . . . always . . . my duty thoroughly . 

Flowing water is beautiful. This little river ... 
to the sea. It . . . faster when the rain was heavy in 
the spring. It . . . always . . . more rapidly hi 
rainy weather. 

When the temperature is below zero, water . . . 
The river . . . last winter ; but this winter has been 
mild, and so the water . . . not . . . 

/ like to go to the country. Last summer I . . . 

. . . every day, and I often to the meadows 

to watch the birds. 

How nice it is, after a long tramp, to see mother lay- 
ing the tablecloth ! She it now for supper. 

She . . . it yesterday for lunch, and she . . . always 
. . . it whenever I have had a party of hungry friends. 

I like to lie and watch the clouds. I ... on the 
grass last spring and watched them sailing ; and I 
. . . often . . . on the hay to see them scurrying across 
the sky* 



344 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Any brigJit child can prove the earth to be round 
nowadays ; but -when Columbus . . . it, few people 
would admit it. His discoveries of America . . . 
. . . to be one of the greatest blessings of mankind. 

The moment a robin rises from his sleep, he sings a 
song to the dawn. We . . . early yesterday and 
listened while the robins and orioles . . . the most 
cheerful hymns to the light, just as they . . . always 
. . . them in every orchard on which the sun . . . 
ever . . . 

4. Supply the missing verbs in the following: 

The woodchuck sits at the entrance of its burrow. 

It . . . there all yesterday watching Jip, our dog ; 

and Jip . . . the whole day watching the woodchuck. 

When Jip catches a woodchuck, he shakes it. He 

. . . one fellow that zvas eating our lettuce, and he 

many a chipmunk besides. 

When I show him a woodchuck 's hole, he barks and 
jumps. I . . . him one the other day, but I . . . not 
. . . him one since, for I could hardly get him away 
from it. 

When I speak to him, he usually answers ; but when 
I ... to him then, he only barked, and I might . . . 
. . . to him all day without satisfaction. 

I did not wish him to hurt the woodchuck, for 
father says we have no right to slay weak things, and 



EXERCISES 345 

last summer yip . . . all the mice and bunnies and 
woodchucks he could get hold of, and he . . . even 
. . . some birds. 

He likes to steal, too. He once . . . a plate of 

chops and many times he cakes and bones. 

He takes everything he can get his paws on ; he . . . 
grandma s knitting and chewed it up, and qinte often 
he mother's slippers. 

When I throw a stick into the water, in he goes. 
Once I ... a stone in. He could n't find it. Then I 

. . . another, and he saw it sink. I many 

stones since, but he . . . never . . . after them. 

When I wake up in the morning, yip is watching 
me. Once I . . . very early and went off without 

him. Since that time, Jip me by tugging 

gently at my pillow. 

5. Rewrite the following sketch, changing the 
underlined verbs to the past tense: 

The woodchuck sits at his door. He watches Jip. 
Tender plants grow in the garden, and the woodchuck 
nibbles them. He eats our lettuce and our beans. But 
when jfip's bark rings over the field, he runs to his 
hole. 

Jip steals toward Mr. woodchuck and sets him 
scampering into his dark house. He dives like a flash 
underground. Then yip lays himself down in the 
long grass, but the woodchuck lies still at home. 



346 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The supper bell rings, and then yip raises himself 
and breaks into a gallop. The woodchuck knows he is 
gone, and rises from his burrow. He begins to get 
courage. He goes to- the garden and takes some 
cabbage. 

Then Jip wakes up to the fact that he is there. He 
bursts from the house and drives the woodchuck home 
again, and flies after him, and does all kinds of terri- 
fying tricks, until poor woodchuck almost freezes 
with fear. 



NOTE: The following verbs deserve special con- 
siderations. 

Can — used as an auxiliary in the sense of " be 
able." It has only two forms can (canst) and could 
(couldst). Missing forms are supplied by forms of 
" be able," as, We shall not be able to go. 

Dare — in the sense of " challenge," dare is a 
regular weak verb, as, He dares him wrestle with him. 
In the sense of " have courage to," the third person 
singular of its Present tense is he dare. For the 
Past tense we find the literary form durst, which, 
however, is little used in ordinary speech. 

Iclept — a Middle English Perfect Participle mean- 
ing " called," no longer used in ordinary speech. 



VERBS 347 

May — used as an auxiliary in the sense of " have 
permission to " or " be likely to." It has only two 
tenses, may (rnayst) and might (mightst). 

Must — used as an auxiliary in the sense of " be 
obliged to" and " be necessary to." It has only one 
form, must, which is used for every person and number 
of the Present and Past tenses. An old form of the 
Present, mote, is still used in the expression, So mote 
it be. 

Ought — - has only this one form for all persons and 
numbers of the Present and Past It is used in the 
sense of " be in duty bound." It is an old Past 
tense of the verb ozve, which now is used as a regular 
weak verb in the sense of " have a debt." 

Quoth — used only in the First and Third persons 
singular of the Past tense in the sense of "said": 
quoth I {he, she). No longer used in ordinary 
speech. 

Shall — an auxiliary. It has only the two forms 
shall (jshalt) and should (shouldst). These forms are 
used as sign-words in forming the Future tenses. 
Shall is also used in the sense of " must " : You 
shall go, I tell you; and should, in the sense of 
" would be right or proper": You should dress more 
carefully. 



348 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Will — an auxiliary used as a sign-word in forming 
Future tenses. It has the two forms will (wilt) and 
would (jvouidst). In the sense of " choose to," will is 
a regular weak verb — will, willed, willed. The same 
is true of will in the sense of " bequeath " : He 
willed me his entire fortune. 

Wont — an old Perfect Participle meaning " accus- 
tomed " — He was wont to speak freely. 



Mode 

MODE, in grammar, represents the way in which 
action or being may be regarded by the speaker in 
relation to the subject of a thought. 

There are three modes : the Indicative, the Subjunc- 
tive, the Imperative. 

Compare the following sentences: — 

The sun is setting : it is time to go. 

If the sim were setting, it would be time to go. 

The sun is setting ; let us go. 

In the first sentence, each verb states a fact in 
relation to its subject. 

In the second sentence, the action and condition 
expressed by the verbs were and be, are only assumed 
or supposed. 

In the last part of sentence three, the verb let 
expresses a direction or command. 

When a verb is used, as in the first sentence, to ex- 
press a fact, it is said to be in the Indicative Mode. 



35° THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

When a verb is used, as in the second sentence, to 
show that action or being is only supposed or as- 
sumed, it is said to be in the Subjunctive Mode. 

When a verb is used to express a request, entreaty, 
or command, it is said to be in the Imperative Mode. 

The indicative mode expresses action or being 
directly and independently: The fire burns bright. 
We shall be warm. 

The subjunctive mode, on the other hand, occurs 
in clauses which are dependent upon one another: 
If the fire burn bright, we shall be warm. 

The subjunctive therefore belongs, for the most 
part, to complex and compound sentences. 

It can express only that which is dependent upon 
some possibility or condition imagined or supposed 
by the speaker. 

In form, the subjunctive is practically the same as 
the indicative, except in the case of the verb be. The 
subjunctive forms of this verb are given below: — 

Present Past 

{if) I, thou, lie, etc. be (if) I, thou, he, etc. were 

Except in poetry, in classical English prose, and in 
dignified language, the subjunctive in all other verbs 
is shown by dropping the s of the third person singu- 



MODE 3 5 1 



lar. This form, however, is rapidly tending to be- 
come obsolete. We no longer say, If it rain, we shall 
stay at home, but if it rains, we shall stay at home. 
Nor do we say, If the lady be here, I should like to see 
her, but If the lady is here, etc. 

In such sentences, the assumed condition is clearly 
enough shown by the word if, and the indicative 
serves the purpose of the speaker just as well as the 
subjunctive. 

When the indicative is used in assumed conditions, 
it is usually preceded by some word like perJuips, or 
if, expressing doubt or uncertainty. The subjunctive 
can express doubt, assumed condition, or uncertainty 
by its own form alone : Were I able, I would help 
you. 

In such sentences as, Should I meet him, I will tell 
him, should is always subjunctive. The same is true 
of would, may (past, might), and had, in Had / seen 
you in time, /would have warned you. Draw near me, 
that I may see your face. Had / been wiser, /might 
have been happier. It would be better to seek content 
than riches. 

NOTE : Be careful to distinguish between may, 
should, would, and had as auxiliaries, as in the above, 
and as verbs with distinct meanings of their own. 
(See Lesson X, Part I, for these words as verbs of 
independent meaning.) 



352 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



The principal uses of the subjunctive are: 

1. To express a wish: Heaven deliver thee. Long 
live liberty ! 

2. To express a condition contrary to fact: If 
the weather were fair, I would go riding. 

3. To express a possible result, usually in adverb 
clauses of purpose and concession (i. e., clauses in 
which a possible result is conceded or allowed) : 
Touch not pitch, lest thou be defiled. Though He 
slay vie, yet will I trust Him. 

NOTE: The subjunctive mode is slowly, but none 
the less certainly, going out of use in the English of 
everyday life. The only true subjunctive form com- 
monly used is the past of the verb be, namely, were, 
which is employed to express a condition either 
untrue or altogether contrary to fact: 

Were he good (he is not good), then were he lovable 
(he is not lovable). 

EXERCISES 

1. Determine the modes of the italicized verbs in 
the following selections : 

If all the year were playing holidays, 
To sport would be as tedious as to work. 

Shakespeare. 



EXERCISES 353 

Turn him and see his threads ; look if he be 
Friend to himself, that would be friend to thee. 

Ben Jonson. 

My sister ! my sweet sister ! If a name 
Dearer and purer were, it shottld be thine. 

Byron. 
If time be heavy on your hands, 

Are there no beggars at your gate? 

Tennyson. 
O heaven ! Were man 

But constant, he were perfect. Shakespeare. 

He that is thy friend indeed, 

He will help thee in thy need ; 

If thou sorrow, he will weep, 

If thou wake, he cannot sleep. Barnfield. 

If the tree fall toward the south or toward the 
north, in the place where the tree falleth, there shall 
it lie. Bible. 

Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he 
thirst, give him drink. Bible. 

Who the silent man can prize, 

If he be a fool or wise? 

Yet though lonely seem the wood, 

Therein may lurk the beast of blood ; 

And deem not thou in forest gray, 
Every dappled skin thy prey, 



354 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Lest thou rouse with luckless spear, 

The tiger for the fallow deer. Bishop Heber. 

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty. 

If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live. 

Shakespeare. 
Work for some good, be it ever so slowly ! 

Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly ! 

Osgood. 
2. In the following, change the italicized forms to 
the Indicative, and notice how much more natural the 
sentences sound to you. 

If there be any one fact more interesting than an- 
other, it is the fact that some plants eat insects. 
Were you to doubt this, I would take you to the 
woods and meadows and show you the plant called 
Venus' fly-trap ; and, indeed, that you may see for 
yourself, we shall visit this little flower to-morrow, if 
it rain not and the weather be fair. If Tom come in 
time, he may go with us. This flower (if it really 
be a flower) catches flies, and eats them, too. It does 
this by means of a cunning trap of leaves which it 
keeps open. Let the unwary insect be careful how 
it go lest it come to sorrow, for if it alight on the trap, 
the sides close suddenly, and the prickles of the 
leaves pierce the insect's body. If Tom wish to 
go to-morrow, and you be willing, I will show you 
both the wonders of this little flower. 



Infinitives 

THERE is one form of the verb which is not affected 
by either Person, Number, Tense, or Mode. 

If we examine such verb-forms as be, go, see, strike, 
etc., we shall see at once that they do not refer to 
any person, number, time, or mode. They are, there- 
fore, pure, unmodified forms, and for this reason they 
are called Infinitives. 

Infinitive means, without limitation; that is, without 
limitation as to person, number, tense, or mode. 

Note : A verb whose form shows any of the above 
relations is said to be Finite (i. e., limited). 

Infinitives combine in themselves the nature both of 
nouns and of verbs. As nouns they may be used, 
(i) as the subject of a sentence: To write is easy ; 
(2) as attributes of identity (that is, to show that the 
subject and the thing predicated are one and the 
same): To be good is to be happy ; (3) as object of a 
verb : We tried to read ; (4) as object of a preposition : 
/ went to see him. 



356 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

NOTE: The preposition to is so closely identified 
with the infinitive forms of verbs, that it may be well 
to explain here what we mean by speaking of the 
infinitive see as the object of the preposition to. 
All prepositions were originally adverbs. In this 
particular instance to was an adverb denoting direc- 
tion, showing the relation between the action, went, 
and the object toward which it was directed, see him. 
Nowadays this adverbial force has been lost sight of; 
yet the feeling regarding the right use and nature of 
the infinitive in such sentences has not died out, for 
one may still hear (among so-called uneducated 
people) the expression, " We went for to see him." 
Here for clearly shows that the infinitive is the 
object. 

The infinitive has two distinct forms : 

1. The Simple Form (called by some the root- 
infinitive, because the finite form springs from it) : 
Hear, walk, run, learn, etc. 

2. The Infinitive in ing. 

This is said to be formed by adding the syllable 
ing to the root-infinite. The syllable, however, is 
really not an addition, in the case of native English 
words, but merely the modern way of pronouncing 
the true old infinitive ending. Thus, " Build, the 
verb, was anciently Build*?;/. All English infinitives, 



INFINITIVES 357 



as they still do in German, ended in en (or an) : our 
beautiful Lindley Murray [grammarians in general] 
alarmed at a mispronunciation like builds, stuck a 
g to the end of it." 

The infinitive in ing, like the simple infinitive, 
shares in the nature both of noun and of verb. It has 
therefore a variety of uses. 

a. As a noun it may be either subject, attribute, or 
object : — 

Acting is better than dreaming. 

His greatest enjoyment is reading. 

They dislike studying. 

b. As a verb it can take an object and may be 
modified by adverbs : — 

Acting a noble part is better than dreaming. 

His greatest enjoyment is reading good books. 

They dislike studying so hard at night. 

It will be well for you to remember the following 
facts about the infinitive in ing, for the reason that 
there are several classes of words ending in ing, and 
without a familiarity with these classes and the ways 
in which they are distinguished, they might prove 
confusing to you. 



358 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

1. A word in ing, as you have just learned, may 
be an infinitive. 

2. But a word in ing may be a participle equiv- 
alent, in modifying power to an adjective (Lesson 
XIX, Part I) ; or 

3. A word in ing may be a verbal noun : — ■ 

The playing of the team was poor. 

Here playing is called a verbal noun for the reason 
that it simply names an action without expressing 
action. It cannot take an object, nor can it be modi- 
fied by adverbs; and it differs from a participle in 
that it has no modifying force. 

NOTE: The relation of all words in ing to other 
words in the sentence is the best, and, indeed, the 
only safe guide to their nature. 

The recognition of the simple infinitive presents no 
difficulties, since it is usually preceded by the prepo- 
sition to. There are some forms, however, which are 
never accompanied by the preposition. After will 
and shall, when used as auxiliaries to denote future 
time, to is never used : / will go. Yon will write to 
me and I shall answer you. 

With let (meaning permit or allow), bid, make, feel, 
hear, need, see, and also with should, would, could, can, 



INFINITIVES 359 



may, mighty the simple root infinitive is used : Let us 
go, Bid them leave me, Make her do it, We hear Jier 
sing, They hear us coming, The men saw him rim, 
I should study, etc. 

To, however, is used with ought, though ought, like 
should and must, expresses obligation or necessity. 
The difference is that should means, " It would be 
well to," " it is necessary to," while ought implies 
duty, or moral obligation. Thus we say, You should 
go for a walk; it would do you good; but A man 
ought always to be true to the highest ideals. 

Tense Forms of the Infinitive 

Active Passive 

Present (To) see (To) be seen 

Perfect (To) have seen (To) have been seen 

The Present Infinitive expresses action imperfect 
(not completed) at the time shown in the principal 
verb, as / wish (or wished or shall wish) to see him. 
We fear (ox feared or shall fear) to be seen. 

The Perfect Infinitive expresses action perfect (com- 
pleted) at the time shown in the principal verb, as, 
We regret (or regretted or shall regret) to have spoken 
in anger. They regret (or regretted or will regret) 
to have been deprived of the pleasure by this accident. 



360 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



EXERCISES 

1. Point out the infinitives in the following. Dis- 
tinguish the simple, or root infinitive from the in- 
finitive in ing, and from verbal nouns having the 
same ending. 

The teaching of little children is always interesting, 
and I like telling about some of their lovable ways and 
their laughable sayings. To enjoy them thoroughly, 
though, hearing the children themselves is necessary. 

One day, during a reading lesson, the teacher 
wrote on the blackboard the following sentence, without 
punctuation : 

This is a worm do not tread on it 

Wishing to see how capable the pupils were at read- 
ing rapidly, she called upon them to recite the sentence 
all together. Reading at sight, however, was not their 
strong point. The teacher's writing was excellent, but 
spelling the words was beyond the children, arid, one 
after another, they failed. 

One little girl continued trying, and after making 
several guesses at the sense, she began reciting as 
quickly as she could 

This is a warm doughnut tread on it. 



INFINITIVES 361 



2. Fill the blanks below with the right tense-form 
of the infinitive of the following verbs, and state your 
reason for considering it right: I. Be, visit, prevent. 
2. See. 3. Be. 4. Learn, fail. 5. Be. 

I. They ought . . . here long ago. We made up 
our minds . . . our friends yesterday, but something 

. . us. 



2. We went . . . Niagara Falls, and on reaching 
home I told Mother I was delighted . . . so glorious 
a sight. 

3. He was away from home, and he is said . . . 
in the city. 

4. Had we tried earnestly . . . our lesson, we could 
not . . . to do so. 

5. Paul Revere is said . . . stopped by some British 
troops 071 his way to Concord. 

NOTE : The use of two perfect infinitive forms is 
not admissible in one sentence ; thus, We could not 
have thought to have gone there. One perfect infinitive 
form is sufficient to indicate the distinction in time. 

Uses of the Infinitive 

Besides serving as subject, attribute of identity, or 
object, the infinitive may also be used, 



362 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



1. As a modifier: And those who came to scoff re- 
mained to pray . You will see at once that the infini- 
tives have here the force of adverbs, inasmuch as they 
express purpose and thus modify the verbs came and 
remained. 

2. A house to let. Vegetables to eat. 

Here the infinitives modify the nouns house and 
vegetables by describing them. {House for letting. 
Vegetables for eating.) ~ 

3. He ordered him to leave. They thought him {to 
be) honest. We heard him (Jo) sing. 

Here the Infinitive is used for the purpose of 
specifying, or completing the meaning of the principal 
verb. It tells of an action or condition relating to 
the object of the verb. This construction is com- 
monly found with verbs of hearing, commanding, 
seeing, telling, and thinking. The object and the 
infinitive together form a double object of the 
principal verb. 

4. It is best to part. 

In each case it is important for every one to know 
where he is going. 

Here the Infinitive is used to explain the predicates, 
and on this account it may be said to be in apposition. 



EXERCISE 363 

EXERCISE 

Explain the character and use of the underlined 
Infinitive forms in the following sentences : 

Examples : 

We shall leave to-morrow. 

Leave is an Imperfect Infinitive used with shall in 
forming the Future Indicative, 

They were eager to go. 

Go is an Infinitive expressing purpose. It therefore 
modifies the predicate, were eager, to which it is joined 
by the preposition to, of which it is the object. 

No one can recover lost time. Every attempt to 
recover lost time is futile. 

It is never too late to mend. 

I am rejoiced to have seen this wonderful sight. 

We intend to spend the next summer in traveling. 

We hope to enjoy boating and bathing at the seashore. 

There is danger of falling from the frying-pan into 
the fire. 

If we should be guilty even once of deceiving, we 
should no longer have the right to expect others to trust 
us. 



364 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



PARTICIPLES 

TRANSITIVE VERBS have two Participles : The Im- 
perfect Participle, going, sleeping, driving, etc., which 
implies imperfect, or continuous action or condition, 
and the Perfect Participle, gone, slept, driven, which 
implies perfect, or completed action or condition. 

The Imperfect Participle is formed by the addition 
of ing to the simple form of the Infinitive. This 
Participle is used with the Auxiliary be in making the 
Progressive Form of the several tenses, as : / am 
going ; I was sleeping, etc. 

It also has a Phrasal Form, which does not enter 
into the conjugation of verbs, but is used inde- 
pendently as in the following sentence: 

Having been driving all day, I felt quite exhausted. 

The Perfect Participle, in a great majority of verbs, 
has the same form as the Past Indicative, thus: love, 
loved ; sleep, slept; add, added. In some Strong 
Verbs it has a form of its own. (See list of Strong 
Verbs, pages 336-339-) 

The Perfect Participle is also used, together with 
the auxiliary have, in forming the Perfect Tenses of 
Verbs, as: / have gone ; I have slept, etc. 



PARTICIPLES 365 

Other names given to the Imperfect and Perfect 
Participles, respectively, are Present Participle and 
the Past Participle. 

In the passive voice of transitive verbs we find 
what is called the Passive Participle, though this form 
is identical with the Perfect Participle of the Active 
Voice. Thus, I have struck, I am struck. It is also 
used in the Passive to denote progressive action, as : 
I am being struck. And it has an independent 
phrasal form which does not enter into the conju- 
gation of the verb, as : "Having been struck by the 
beauty of his conversation, I frequently went to hear 
him." 

When used independently of other verbs, participles 
have the character of adjectives, and modify nouns 
(and their equivalents) or pronouns. This is illus- 
trated in the following sentences, the participles and 
the words modified by them being underlined. 

I saw Jo Jm running rapidly across the street. 

Leaning out of the window we sazv a croivd of men 
hurrying along the road. 

A ball thrown toward the house crashed through a 
window pane. 

Being severely wounded, the soldier could not rise. 



366 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Having bee7i conquered, he submitted to the terms. 

In such expressions as, ripening grain, blasted pros- 
pects, confirmed invalid, the Participle has apparently 
lost its verbal character, and is so clearly descriptive 
that it may be treated as an adjective. 



EXERCISES 

The following blanks are to be filled with the two 
forms of the Infinitive. Also with Participles and 
Verbal Nouns in ing. By applying the tests for the 
Infinitive in ing given on page 358, and by studying 
the relation of the ideas in the sentences, you will 
have no difficulty in selecting the proper forms. 

We were . . . for trout one day in a stream . . . 
through a dense zvood down to the beautiful fields and 
away to the sea. 

. . . a successful fisherman requires patience and a 
peaceful spirit, especially in trout .... For . . . 
noise is sure to injure ones chances of . . . any wary 
old fish. And wary fish are strong and plucky and 
are known . . . the best of sport. 

As we were . . . still as the rocks . . . about us 
. . . for a bite, we saw a red squirrel . . . like a flash 
up the trunk of a tall pine. He chattered noisily as he 
ran, and the ... of a red squirrel usually means that 



EXERCISES 367 

he is excited. Bye and bye along came a weasel . . . 
after tJie squirrel ; only the weasel went deliberately, 
and with a sort of grim and terrible silence. The poor 
little squirrel, meanwhile 9 . . . with fright, sat among 
the topmost branches of a hemlock, . . . his pursuer in 
mortal terror. 

Shakespeare says, " Oh ! It is excellent to have a 
giant's strength, but tyrannous to use it like a giant." 
But . . . a giant's strength, compared with the 
weasel' s, was a good tiling on that occasion, and our 
. . . it like a giant for the little squirrel's sake, was 
far from . . . tyrannous. 

There is no use . . . to J lit a weasel with a . . . 
rod, or a slick, for the weasel makes up in cunning and 
agility what he lacks in strength, and . . . a giant 
does not help one in . . . a weasel. So . . . him 
with my revolver was the only thing to do, and I 
did shoot him, just as he was about . . . the little 
squirrel. 

NOTE: Parsing exercises calling for form, char- 
acter and use of infinitives and participles may be 
assigned from selections of this and other chapters. 



Adverbs 

Adverbs are words used to limit or qualify verbs, 
adjectives, or other adverbs. In the great majority 
of cases they are formed from adjectives by the 
addition of ly. 

As this is a part of speech which has been thor- 
oughly treated in Part I, Lessons XVI-XVII, we 
shall here confine ourselves to the following brief 
summary of its principal uses. These are: 

I. To express manner or quality: ill, well, sweetly, 
so, as, likewise, how, etc., etc. 

II. To show degree or quantity : very, much, 
exceedingly. 

III. To denote time : Now, then, so, etc., etc. 

IV. To denote duration (or quantity of time) : 
once, twice, thrice, only, but, often, seldom, even, 
never, etc. 

V. To denote place : Here, there, yonder, etc. 
Order of Place : next, before, after, firstly, secondly, 
thirdly ; up, dozvn, inside, outside, etc. 



ADVERBS 369 



VI. To denote result: So, therefore, wherefore, 
consequently, why. 

Example : 

1 . We have had a drought, so (or therefore or con- 
sequently) the crops are poor. 2. He was too lazy to 
work ; that is why he failed. 3 . Now this mart was 
sinful and cruel, wherefore men shunned him. 

NOTE: Yes, no, and not are also included among 
adverbs, since they qualify statements by expressing 
affirmation or negation. 

Some adverbs are interrogative: 

Where have you been? How did you go? When 
did you arrive? 

But when these same words are used in clauses 
they have a twofold use: 1, they serve to denote 
place, manner, or time, and so modify the verb of the 
clause, and 2, they serve to join the subordinate 
clause to the principal clause, and thus are like 
conjunctions: 

I know where you have been. I saw how you 
went. I know when you arrived. 

For this reason, adverbs used as in these examples 

are called Conjunctive Adverbs. 

24 



37° 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Comparison of Adverbs 

Adverbs, like adjectives, are susceptible of com- 
parison, and have the three degrees : Positive, Compar- 
ative, Superlative. 

Example : 

This boy works quickly, that girl works more 
quickly, but this child works most quickly. 

In the majority of adverbs the Comparative degree 
is shown by the addition of the word more, and the 
Superlative by the addition of most, as in the above 
examples. 

The adverbs hard, fast, soon, long, often, high, and 
a few others, form the Comparative and the Super- 
lative degree by the inflexional endings es and est. 

Some adverbs have irregular forms of comparison, 
as: 

much more most 

little less least 

well better best 

ill worse worst 

nigh near next 

far farther, further farthest, furthest 



EXERCISE 371 



EXERCISE 

Supply appropriate adverbs in the following. A 
single dash indicates that a single adverb is required ; 
a double dash shows that an adverbial phrase is 
wanting. 

I have been able to watch a trained bear, led 

round with a ring in his tender nose, without a feeling 

of pity. No matter how the bear may dance, 

no matter how he performs his tricks, nor no 

matter how the crowd laughs, I cannot enjoy 

the performance. My mind presents a picture of the 
happy life he used to lead, the free life in which he 

wandered through the woods, with only the 

underbrush to restrain him, and masterless, save 

for the elements. The great mother, Nature, pro- 
vided for him, as she does for all her children. 

His sleeping quarters were adapted to his needs, 

being cool in summer, and snug in winter, 

His coat, made than any tailor could ever hope 

to make it, protected him against all sorts of weather, 

and of all, food was to be found . 

His banqueting halls more beautiful than 

those of kings were the open places of the up-land 
forest, their roofs fretted with gold and green, and the 

blue sky showing between. Nor did he have to 

go to find dainties than he could eat: 



372 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

sweet roots and luscious wild berries, with a mouthful 
of wild honey by way of dessert. 

The birds sang to him , and when 

night came the hermit thrush rang the silver notes of 
his song of gold through the woodland hush. 

How he fares ! Could death be 

than this life: to be pulled by the nose through 

the streets and all, to rear up and dance 

for the entertainment of a motley crowd. 

Yes, my imagination shows him as he was, 

and I pity him. His swarthy Italian master 

beats him, and I feel sorry for the poor fellow, 

but I pity him for the loss of his freedom. 

Instead of mosses springing under his pads, he feels 
the hard hot stones ; instead of God's greenness arch- 
ing over him, he sees sordid brick 

and wood of grimy buildings; and instead of the 

bright eyes of birds and red squirrels peering 

through the forest branches, he meets the faces of 
unsympathetic people grinning around him. 

If Bruin has feeling and memory, how he 

must recall the old days ! 

must the captured northern chiefs have felt, 

they were dragged to make sport for the 

mobs of ancient Rome. 



Conjunctions 

In this lesson we shall study a part of speech by 
means of which words and word-groups are con- 
nected, and simple sentences are joined together so as 
to form compound sentences. 

Examine the following: 

The grasses and twigs are hung with icicles, and 
the leaves are glistening with them. 

In this sentence, the first and joins together two 
distinct ideas and thus makes the subject of the sen- 
tence compound. The second and, however, joins 
together two distinct statements, and thus makes the 
sentence compound. 

These joining-words are called Conjunctions. 

Now read the following: 

The grasses and the twigs are hung with icicles, 
and the leaves are glistening with them, but the 
sheltered southern slopes are bare of snow. 



374 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Here a third statement is added to the other two. 
Observe that this third statement is added by way of 
contrast, and that but is the conjunction used to join 
this third statement to the two preceding ones. 

These conjunctions help to form a compound sen- 
tence, and as a compound sentence can consist only 
of parts that are equal in rank, or coordinate, the 
conjunctions and and but are coordinate conjunctions. 
Coordinate Conjunctions join together words, phrases, 
clauses, and sentences equal in rank. 

The most commonly used Coordinate Conjunctions 
are : and, but, or, also, either, neither, nor, too, and for, 
and the phrasal conjunctions, as well as, as if, such as, 
as sure as, as soon as, in order that, provided that. 

The work of coordinating conjunctions, in acting as 
the hinges of sentences, may be seen by comparing 
the paragraphs below. 

In the first paragraph, a number of thoughts are 
stated separately; in the second, they are joined 
together in one compound sentence by means of 
conjunctions. 

I. Some species of ants seem ambitious to be 
supreme. They go abroad frequently seeking to attack 
the nests of other ants. When they have conquered Jhe 
inhabitants they drive them forth. The invaders do 
not always kill the besieged. Sometimes they do not 



CONJUNCTIONS 375 



even injure them. They content themselves with plun- 
dering the captured nest and carrying off its treasure 
of larvce and nymphcz. 

2. Some species of ants seem ambitious to be supreme ; 
for they go abroad frequently to attack the nests of other 
ants ; and when they have conquered the inhabitants 
they drive them forth, although the invaders do not 
always kill them, nor even injure them, but content 
themselves with plundering the captured nest and 
carrying off its treasure of larvce and nymphce. 

Besides Coordinate Conjunctions, we have another 
important class of joining-words. These differ from 
Coordinate Conjunctions in that they do not serve 
to join together words, phrases, clauses, or sen- 
tences of equal rank, but to connect a dependent or 
subordinate clause with some other part of the sen- 
tence. They are, therefore, Subordinate Conjunctions. 

Examine the following : 

1. Scientists say that some ants are rendered unfit 
for work by keeping slaves. 

2. Marauding ants fight that they may make slaves. 

3. Unless the cotiquered ants are desperate, they 
seldom fight. 

4. When they do fight, they fight to conquer or die. 



376 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

5. That they should sometimes grow desperate is 
only natural. 

6. If a robber tried to steal a human baby, the 
mother would fight hard. 

7. Whether ants are zvise in making slaves is ques- 
tionable. 

Each of the underlined words is a Conjunction, for 
the reason that it joins a subordinate clause to a 
principal clause. Observe that some of these words 
are pronouns, while others are adverbs. Since, how- 
ever, they clearly serve as conjunctions, you may 
call them Conjunctive Pronouns or Conjunctive Ad- 
verbs or Subordinate Conjunctions. 

Examine the following: 

1 . Either you or I must remain. 

2. They were beaten both in batting and in fielding. 

3. Their playing was neither aggressive nor skilful. 

In these sentences the underlined conjunctions 
have no definite value as connectors; they merely 
serve to prepare us for a statement in which an 
alternation is set forth, as in 1 ; or they lead us to 
expect the addition of some idea, as in 2 and 3. 



EXFRCfSES 377 



When two conjunctions are used together, as 
in the above examples, they are called Correlative 
Conjunctions. 

Either — or, neither — nor, both — and, whether — ■ 
or, not only — but also, are the most familiar cor- 
relative conjunctions. 

EXERCISES 

1. The following composition contains the several 
kinds of conjunctions treated of in this lesson. Point 
them out, state what they connect, and tell whether 
they are coordinate or whether they are subordinate. 

Some ants are scouts, for they go out and explore the 
surrounding country, and zvheu they find the nests of 
weaker ants, they lead their army to attack these nests. 
Their memory must be as wonderful as it is marvel- 
lous, and in their bravery they may be likened to some 
heroes of humankind. 

To these little scouts a bit of rock is a mountain ; yet 
they surmount hundreds of suck obstacles, as well as 
many others that we cannot imagine : meadow grass is 
an illimitable forest, and a fallen chip is a huge trunk, 
but neither one nor the other dismays these warriors. 
Both danger and battle are their elements, and they 
seem to rejoice in their strength, as barbaric chiefs, 
when they go forth at the head of their fierce tribes. 



$7% THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The slaves captured by these powerful ants perform 
the most menial duties ; while their masters, like luxu- 
rious Sybarites, loaf around and live on the products 
of their thralls. If one of these ant-aristocrats feels 
hungry, a slave will bring honey ; and it would not be 
surprising to discover some of these unfortunate slaves 
spending their days in devising pleasure for their 
powerful masters, and devoting their nights to arrange- 
ments for their sovereigns comfort. 

Yet these slaves are really the masters. They are 
the people, and if they knew enough to revolt, they 
could easily subdue their masters: for their powerful 
rulers have fought so much that they have developed 
lances in their jaws where once there were teeth; so 
they can no longer eat, but are dependent upon their 
slaves for food. If the slaves withheld the food, the 
ruling ants would die of starvation. Some day a 
genius may arise among the poor enslaved ants and 
lead them out of the land of bondage. 

2. With the following sentences make compound 
sentences by using suitable coordinate conjunctions: 

We were going to have a picnic. It rained. We 
had to remain indoors. Some one planned a game 
of blind man's buff. We were just about to begin. 
Mother said we must n't play. We might make too 
much noise. " Some one is sick next door. Your 
noise might be disturbing." We coaxed and prom- 



EXERCISES 379 

ised. Mother said, "Very well. Remember your 
promise." We had a great game. We did n't miss 
the excursion much, after all. We have it still to 
look forward to. 

3. The following sentences are, as you will per- 
ceive, somewhat disjointed. By combining each set 
of two, you can express the same thought in a better 
manner. In doing this, it will be necessary to use 
pronouns and adverbs as conjunctions ; thus : 

a. I was just about to leave. Then he came. 

b. I was just about to leave when he came. 

In some cases you will have to use conjunctions in 
pairs: both — and, neither— nor > either — or. Thus: 

a. The boy disappeared. The man disappeared. 

b. Both the boy and the man disappeared. 

The sea was calm. This was before the storm came. 

The sun was shining then. The waves were like 
glass. 

No cloud was to be seen. No sign of tempest was to 
be seen. 

The earth seemed sleeping. The waters seemed 



38o 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



The wind came. The sailors were unprepared. 

The clouds rose suddenly. They generally arise in 
this manner in summer. 

We could see many white-sailed boats making for 
shelter. This was before the storm was at its height. 

Then the mist and the wind hid everything. We 
could see nothing. 

We walked on the beach next day. The sands were 
strewn with wreckage. 

Note: Suitable parsing exercises may be assigned 
from the selections of this or other chapters. 



Prepositions 

A Preposition is a link-word which connects a 
modifying element with the word or words modified. 

This use is illustrated in Lessons XVIII, XXI, 
Part I. 

The western windows of the house are ablaze in 
the light of the setting sun. 

See the hoar frost glistening on the brown earth. 

The dark clouds of the tempest were his horses. 

Prepositions are really adverbs which have lost 
their independent meaning and become mere link- 
words. Their original use may be seen in such 
examples as undergo, undertake, uphold, overstep, 
overrun', withhold, withdraw (here with means away 
from) ; withstand {with in this case formerly meant 
against) . 

The following list contains words usually employed 
as prepositions, but sometimes used as adverbs: 
after, about, above, along, behind, beneath, beyond, 
below, between, betwixt, before, by, in, off, on, over, 
round, through, without, within. 



382 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

The following are as often used as adverbs as they 
are as prepositions : across, afore, aloft, alow, around, 
aslant, astride, athwart, besides, down, up, inside, 
outside. 

But> when it has the meaning of except, is a prepo- 
sition, and the word following it is in the objective 
case: I like every one but him. 

NOTE: It may be well to remind you once more 
that what a word is depends upon what it does in the 
sentence. The above words, when they take a noun 
or its equivalent as an object, are prepositions ; when 
they do not, they are adverbs. 

Prepositions are usually placed before the object 
which they govern. We frequently find them, how- 
ever, separated from their objects, as : This is the 
person whom I was speaking of. This usage is 
objected to by some grammarians, but many of the 
most notable writers and speakers have used preposi- 
tions after their objects, and it is a common practice 
in the everyday usage of educated people. Indeed, 
What are you t J linking of ? is much better than, Of 
what are you thinking •? which is somewhat stilted. 
The same is true of the following : For what are you 
looking? To what place are you going? For whom 
do you take me? 



PREPOSITIONS 383 

The words which prepositions bring into relation- 
ship are nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, and 
adverbs. 

When a noun or pronoun is preceded by a prepo- 
sition, it is said to be the object of the preposition : 
We ran to them. They departed from her. We ran 
into him. 

When a preposition with its object forms a modify- 
ing Prepositional Phrase, it is classed either as an 
adjective phrase or an adverb phrase, according as it 
is related to a noun or a pronoun, or to a verb, an 
adjective, or an adverb (Lesson XXI). 

The principal relations which prepositions help to 
show are : 

Possession: as, 

The name of this, giant was Hrym. 

Limitation or kind: 

The hoar frost of the meadows. 
Spears of hail. 

Result : 

From their constant communion with nature, 
these old Norsemen saw something divine every- 
where. 

Attribute : 

A thing of beauty. 



384 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Apposition : 

The continent of America. 

Cause : 

Sick 0/ waiting. Dying of sorrow. 

Place : 

On the brown earth. 

Time: 

In these days. 

Manner : 

We rode with speed. 

EXERCISE 

The prepositions in the following composition 
show all the modifying relations outlined above. 

Study carefully the phrases in which they occur, 
and tell whether they express possession, limitation, 
result, attribute, material, or cause. Distinguish the 
prepositions from the adverbs. 

The window of the front room was opened softly, 
and Bill, who was waiting in the shadow of the porch, 
heard a soft whistle. From its familiarity he knew it 
was Tom's, and he immediately answered it. In a 
little while, Tom crept out upon the roof of the 
porch. The light of the moon lay softly on hill and 
valley. It touched the sombre trees of the forest 



EXERCISE 385 



with brightness. It made the waters of the valley 
lake seem like great pearls : and even the side of the 
house, and the old roof of shingles, gleamed silver 
white in its mellow radiance. 

'■Aren't you afraid of the darkness? " whispered 
Tom to Bill. 

" From that question," said Bill, " you would think 
I had never been in the woods before." 

"Come along, then," said Tom, " and let's see 
what we can discover about foxes." 

The boys went off over the fields and entered the 
woods, stealing quietly between the trunks of the 
pines, some of which, from their great age, were 
covered with mosses of a gray color that gleamed in 
the moonlight. They walked in the woods for some 
time, and Tom was just getting tired of struggling 
through the underbrush, when he came to an open 
space, looking, in the moonlight, like a meeting 
place of fairies. 

" Lie down quickly in the shade," whispered Bill 
to Tom. 

Tom lay down by Bill, and, partly from fear, 
partly for the sake of showing Bill how much he 
knew of woodcraft, he was as still as the mosses on 
the ground about him. When he had lain thus for 
some time, he felt a touch on his arm. 

" Look ! " whispered Bill, pointing to the opposite 

edge of the clearing. 

25 



^86 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Tom looked, and there, frisking and bounding like 
so many happy boys, were about ten rabbits. They 
hopped about, and in and out; and sat up on their 
hind legs and thumped the earth with their feet so 
hard that the muffled echoes of the sound came with 
a weird effect to the ears of the wide-eyed boys. 
One bunny would run away, and another would 
scamper after, like children playing tag. 

Suddenly a dark object descended noiselessly 
through the moonlight. It came down with such 
silence and with so swift a sweep that the bunnies 
were not aware of its presence until it landed on the 
back of one of the gentle little fellows and had sunk 
its murderous talons into its head. In a flash Bill's 
pocket revolver was glistening in the moonlight. 
There was a sharp report that sounded through the 
silent woods like a thunder clap in mountain caverns, 
and when the smoke had cleared away the boys saw 
an owl lying dead in a fluffy heap beside the poor 
bunny. 

" No use watching for foxes now," said Tom. " The 
noise of your pistol has scared every bird and animal 
for miles around." 

So Bill took the dead owl, and Tom took the 
bunny, and they set off for home with long strides. 
Bill went before and Tom behind, and in a little while 
they reached home, where they went to bed, happy 
in the thought that though they had not seen any 



PREPOSITIONS $%7 



foxes at play, they had left the wood-people with one 
enemy the less. 

And while the moonlight shone without, and 
dimmed the stars aloft, and threw its radiance all 
around, Bill dreamed that he was a knight o( old, 
attacking a cruel-eyed robber, a terror of weak souls, 
a worker in darkness. And he dreamed that he 
overcame the robber in a wood and carried from his 
dark castle a little maiden, lily-white, and bore her 
home to the house of her father, and there discovered 
that she was a princess of great power, and of won- 
drous beauty. And he was just about to marry her, 
and so become a prince, when suddenly she turned 
into a poor white bunny, and the robber was trans^ 
formed to an owl with great blazing eyes. 

NOTE: Suitable parsing exercises may be assigned 
from the selections of this and other chapters. 



Composition. 

The Paragraph. Choice of Words. Word-Order. 

Suggestions 

THERE is no royal road to success in writing. A 
knowledge of grammar is but an elementary requisite, 
and even a grasp of all the guiding principles under- 
lying superior literary forms may do no more than 
serve to make our compositions agreeable and accept- 
able. Native genius, unusual power of observation, 
sensitiveness to the sights, sounds, and colors about 
us, a feeling for the tragic and comic of life, intuitive 
power of discriminating between the dramatic and 
the commonplace, a lively imagination, and a sense 
of humor, with the power of translating all these 
thoughts and experiences into appropriate language 
— these are some of the qualities which mark the 
work of the master-writer. But though not all of us 
can be master-writers, we can, if we try, express our- 
selves clearly and in an agreeable manner. We can, 
by practice, learn to " look all around a thought " so 
as to place it clearly before ourselves, and we can 
express it so that another will be able to grasp it. 
H to our clearness we can add some degree of 
beauty, so much the better. 



COMPOSITION 389 



" Every man," says Emerson, " should be so much 
an artist that he could repeat in conversation what 
had befallen him." 

The following may be regarded as essential ele- 
ments in all good composition : 

First: We must have something to say. 

Second : We must arrange our material properly. 

Third : We must express ourselves In well-chosen 
words. 

Fourth : We must arrange these words in such a 
manner as to make their relationship immediately 
clear to our readers or listeners. 

We have called the suggestions given above essen- 
tials for the reason that without knowing and apply- 
ing them our compositions are sure to be marred by 
many glaring faults. Of course, there are other prin- 
ciples underlying good writing, but as these belong 
properly to the domain of rhetoric, we need not 
touch upon them here. 

As Regards the Material for Composition : 

No rules or even suggestions can be profitably 
given for the selection of a subject. The writer must 
determine for himself whether a thing is or is not 
worth treating of in a composition. Then again, 
what might prove of absorbing interest to some 
people would be altogether uninteresting to others, 



390 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

and what one man might consider an important topic 
might be regarded by another as something unworthy 
of notice. It is therefore always wise in selecting a 
topic to give your attention to those things which 
concern the majority of mankind, such as govern- 
ment, the progress of the sciences and the arts, edu- 
cation, etc. Or you may select for description a 
unique object, an extraordinary event, or a personal 
adventure having in it some degree of the dramatic 
element. 

As to the Arrangement of Material : 

The Paragraph: 

Sometimes it requires a number of sentences to 
express a thought completely, and in almost every 
composition of any length, you will find that your 
complete thought requires certain divisions to keep 
its several parts distinct. Thus, in describing your 
town, you might arrange your material in the follow- 
ing manner: 

I. Its history. 2. The situation of the town. 
3. The natural and commercial advantages of its 
situation. 4. The relation of its growth to its situa- 
tion. 5. The principal industries. 6. Its schools. 
7. Its public libraries and art galleries. 

Now you will see for yourself that these divisions 
of your subject enable you to arrange your thoughts 



COMPOSITION 391 



in an orderly, progressive manner, besides giving 
unity to the composition by keeping prominent one 
series of thoughts at a time. 

Read the following : 

The American is born with advantages not given to 
individuals of other nations. He is born free. He is 
master of opportunity. The only lord that he must 
obey is duty, and the only wealth and power he needs 
is character. H The Italian or the Russian, though 
endowed with genius, must struggle for years to win 
an opening, and, the opening having been made, even 
then he is not secure, for at any time lie may be over- 
borne by the tyranny of social usage and enslaved by 
the brutal forces of class distinction. 

In the first part of the thought we have (1) a state- 
ment regarding the American and (2) certain facts 
cited in support of this statement. In the second 
part we have (1) a contrast in the Italian or the 
Russian ; (2) the grounds for this contrast. A divi- 
sion should, therefore, be made after the word- 
character. This is indicated above by a sign called 
The Paragraph (II). Paragraph comes from two Greek 
words meaning, written in beside, because the writers 
of olden times always indicated the divisions and 
subdivisions of their thoughts by writing in the para- 
graph between the thoughts meant to be separated. 



392 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

It is now no longer used for this purpose, the 
division being shown by the arrangement of type or 
writing. 

Example : 

Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of 
those means which the God of Nature has placed in 
our power. TJiree millions of peoples, armed in the 
holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that 
which we possess, are invincible by any force which 
any enemy can send against its. 

Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone, 
there is a just God who presides over the destinies of 
nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our 
battles for us. Patrick Henry. 

Each of these two passages is a paragraph, marked 
off by the beginning of a new line. 

As to the Choice of Words : 

Before we can know whether our words are well 
chosen, we must be familiar with the various mean- 
ings and usages of words. This presupposes a more 
or less thorough acquaintance with good books, and 
a habit of reading attentively. It also implies a 
study of some standard dictionary, such as Webster's 
International. Indeed, the only way in which one 
can become rich in words is to invest a great deal 
of time and attention in the reading of good books. 



COMPOSITION 393 



A person may have thousands of words in his vocab- 
ulary and yet be unable to use them properly. He 
may be able to speak and write grammatically, and 
even to define out-of-the-way words according to the 
dictionary sense, and yet he may be utterly powerless 
to command words. This is an advantage which is 
gained partly through a knowledge of the best 
models as exemplified in standard works of English 
and American literature, and partly through practice 
in composition. There is no way of enriching our 
vocabulary, or improving our composition, either so 
good or so delightful as the reading of great books, 
provided we read these carefully, with our minds 
wide awake to the value and force of every word and 
to the construction of every paragraph. The dic- 
tionary should be kept close at hand for the purpose 
of consultation, so that if we come across any words 
which we fail to understand, we may turn to the 
dictionary for help, as to a learned friend. 

Do not permit yourself to be contented with 
knowing the current meanings of words ; read their 
histories, learn their original meanings, and trace the 
changes which have taken place in them from cen- 
tury to century. In this way the study of words may 
be related not only to the study of history, but may 
afford deep and lasting enjoyment. 

Let your diction be varied. The history of Eng- 
lish words will teach you that our language is singu- 



394 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



larly rich in the variety of its vocabulary, and that 
we have at our command, (a) the Native English 
Vocabulary; (b) the Romantic [French, Spanish, 
Italian, etc.] ; (c) the Latin of books. There is, 
therefore, no excuse for sameness in our words. If 
you seek for comprehensiveness of statement, if you 
wish to write familiarly, simply, and with rude force, 
draw upon the Old English treasury. If you desire 
to be definite, exact, polished, draw upon the Latin. 

Examples: The underlined words in (a) are 
Native English; in (b) they are principally words 
derived from Latin through the French. 

(a) Though we may fear the anger of the mighty, 
yet our care for truth should make us bold. He is but 
needy in spirit that lets a fearful man beget cowardice 
in his breast. Nothing matches truth in worth, and 
we should always be ready to speak openly for her, 
letting neither ill-will nor shows of anger keep us from 
speaking of her fairness. 

(b) Though we may be apprenhensive of the resent- 
ment of the powerful, yet our solicitude for truth 
should cause us to be brave (or resolute). He is but 
indigent {or poor) in spirit that permits a formidable 
person to ge7ierate fear in his breast. Nothing rivals 
truth in value, and we should always be prepared to 



COMPOSITION 395 



declare candidly for her, allowing neither resentmen t 
nor displays of choler to p revent us from discoursing 
of her beauty. 

As to the Arrangement of Words in Sentences : 

Word-Order : 

This division of our subject involves a study of 
Word-Order, the most important part of English 
Composition. For in respect to the order of words 
in the sentence, the English Language is superior to 
all others, ancient or modern. This superiority is 
due to its comparative freedom from inflections, 
cases, and modes, and in the simple, logical structure 
of its sentences. In Latin and Greek, for instance, 
and even in German and other modern languages, the 
form of a word usually determines its relation to 
other words in the sentence, but in English the rela- 
tions and meanings of words are shown immediately 
by the context, and by the order in which they are 
arranged in the sentence. 

In Latin, for instance, the sentence, William strikes 
John, is Guilelmus ferit Johannem. Now the ending 
us in Guilelmus shows that this noun is the subject. 
Therefore no matter how we may change the order 
of the words, we cannot change the meaning of the 
sentence. We may say, Ferit Guilelmus yohamiem 
(verb first), or Johannem ferit Guilelmus (object 



39^ THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



first), or Guilelmns Johannem ferit, etc., but still the 
meaning is the same: William (Guilelmus) strikes 
{ferit) John {Johannem). 

Now compare the following : 
William strikes John. 
John strikes William. 

It is impossible, you see, to change the order of 
the words in the same sentence in English without 
at the same time changing its meaning. 

In every day English and in ordinary prose, the 
usual order of words is as follows : first, the Subject 
with its Modifiers; second, the Verb; third, Object; 
fourth, Adverbial Modifiers of the verb. 

NOTE: In many cases modifying words do not 
always accompany the words which they modify, but 
the rule holds good that all modifying words sJwuld 
be placed as near as possible to the words modified. 

No arbitrary rules can be laid down however in 
regard to the proper order of words. A little care in 
the construction of our sentences, and a little con- 
sideration for our readers and hearers, will always 
keep our word-order right and lead to clearness and 
accuracy of expression. 



COMPOSITION 397 



The commonest cause of confusion in word-order 
may be traced ultimately to the mind of the speaker. 
A person whose ideas are clear, and who has really 
something to say, generally expresses himself clearly 
and well, but one whose ideas are hazy and who talks 
or writes without reflection, usually jumbles his words 
together without regard either to proper order or to 
good sense. 

NOTE: Another cause, not only of slipshod word- 
order, but also of poverty of thought and fancy in 
composition, lies in the failure to see and imagine 
things in all their relations, to keep our minds and 
hearts upon the truth that nothing lives alone, but is 
connected with other things by bonds invisible to the 
eye but visible to the spirit of men. 

Suggestions for Composition 

There is a kinship of ideas, just as there is kinship 
among humankind, and he whose mind is capable of 
perceiving connections where none seem to exist, 
is the one whose thoughts are most striking and 
original. Nearly every one, of course? can connect 
trees with greenness ; depth with the ocean ; dew with 
freshness ; lilies with innocence ; the weeping willow 
with sorrow; the lion with strength; the lamb with 
gentleness, etc., etc., as everybody knows who has 
read the verses of young poets. Conversely, it is easy 



39§ THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



to associate things through the force of contrast. 
Thus, Black — White; Sorrow — Joy ; Freedom — 
Slavery ; Greatness — Smalluess, etc. Not every one 
sees, however, or endeavors to see the wonderful 
ways in which all things of life, the commonest and 
the rarest, are related ; yet success in writing depends 
largely upon this perception of universal relationship. 
The bag of brown sugar on its way to the refiner's 
— is it only a bag of brown sugar, nothing more? 
Does it suggest nothing about the Southern lands 
where it once existed as the sweet sap of the sugar 
cane? Does it tell nothing of the strange people 
working about it ; the coppery sunshine of the tropics 
which shone upon it ; the torrential rains and winds 
that beat down upon it? Does it not speak to you 
of the process by which it was changed to the brown 
stuff in the bags — of the picturesque quays of far- 
away seaports, and of its journey across seas? 

The clothes you wear suggest many stories ; a 
grain of sand is connected with the physical history 
of the universe; a cup of flour takes us back to the 
golden grain, bending in the breeze of the prairies ; 
the pencil you write with tells a story of men digging 
in the depths of the earth ; the book you hold, or any 
book, is connected with the history of civilization, — 
everything in life is bound to other things, the least, 
as well as the greatest. And if Composition means, 
as regards words, " placing parts together in proper 



COMPOSITION 399 

order," then it means, in a larger sense, discovering 
the relations of all objects of thought, and placing 
them together in proper order. 

There is no rule for teaching you how this wonder- 
derful bond may be discovered. Keep the heart and 
mind open to see beyond the surface, and never look 
upon anything as isolated. 

As regards the arrangement of words, however, 
some practical and helpful directions can be given. 

First, as to PRESENT PARTICIPLES ending in ing. 

This is a part of speech which is loosely employed 
by many people, and which is consequently one of 
the commonest causes of obscurity. Whenever pres- 
ent participles are used, their connection with the 
subject should be at once clear. 

Compare the following : 

A. Having go?ie into the woods to escape the cares 
of business, they seemed, nevertheless, to follow him 
into the solitude. 

B. Having gone into the woods to escape the cares 
of business, nevertheless he still continued to worry 
about them. 

In sentence A, observe that the participle, having, 
leads us to expect a subject, which, however, is 
omitted, and thus the thought is made obscure. 



400 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

In sentence B, the subject he is given, and thus the 
thought becomes at once clear. 

As to Pronouns : 

First, relative pronouns should be so placed as to 
show clearly and immediately the nouns for which 
they stand. 

The following will illustrate the obscurity which 
may arise from a want of definite connection between 
a pronoun and its antecedent: 

His speech was uninteresting and rambling, alto- 
gether different from his old style, which bored his 
listeners. 

Here the writer does not mean to say that the 
speaker's old style of speech bored his listeners, yet 
from the misplacing of the pronoun this is the 
apparent meaning. 

The following sentence, taken from an article by 
Addison, the famous English essayist and poet, illus- 
trates the obscurity due to a careless use of what and 
which : — 

We nowhere meet with a more glorious and pleas- 
ing show than what appears in the heavens at the 
rising and setting of the sun, which is wholly made 
up of those different stains of light that show them- 
selves in clouds of a different situation. 



CO MP OSI TION 40 1 



Here what by itself stands for that (show) which ; 
yet which y the relative, referring to show, is repeated. 
It is difficult to know just what this latter pronoun 
stands for, though at first sight it seems to refer to 
the rising and setting of the sun. Such, however, is 
not the case, inasmuch as the rising and setting of 
the sun is not wholly made tip of stains of light, etc. 
Nor can it point back to the heavens as its antece- 
dent, for the same reason. 

Second, relative pronouns should never be omitted 
when there is danger of the omission leading to 
obscurity. 

Example : Many people a man nowadays meets 
may not always be what they seem. 

By placing the relative that after people, the sense is 
made more clear. 

But we must be equally careful not to repeat a 
pronoun unnecessarily, as in the following: — ■ 

It is not everybody who calls himself a soldier who 
has fought in his country s cause that is to be believed 
or trusted. 

Adjectives: This is a part of speech which is 
more abused than any other by careless writers and 
speakers. For this reason we have cautioned you, 

throughout Part I, against the habit of overcoloring 

26 



402 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

or exaggerating your statements by the excessive use 
of adjectives, and more especially of descriptive 
adjectives. We do not mean to imply by this that 
you should cultivate temperance in your use of 
adjectives to such a degree as to make your sentences 
bald and dryly precise, for there are times when we 
require a wealth of adjectives to do justice to our 
narratives or descriptions : but it is a good rule to be 
frugal with adjectives, to select them carefully, and 
to apply them so happily that they will add an effec- 
tive descriptive element to your compositions. 

Avoid trite and overworked adjectives as much as 
possible. There are certain comprehensive words, 
like nice, sympathetic, interesting, beautiful, authori- 
tative, etc., which are used only because they enable 
people either to avoid telling the truth, or to hide 
their ignorance. 

These adjectives form the stock in trade of a num- 
ber of writers, who refer to an actor's playing as " a 
nice performance," or " a sympathetic interpretation," 
or "an interesting rendition," with "a. beautiful de- 
livery," and "an authoritative manner." So far as 
really telling us anything definite is concerned, one 
might as well expect to give a foreigner a helpful 
description of the United States by informing him 
that " America is a free country, very large, interest- 
ing and beautiful." 



COMPOSITION 403 



There is no exercise better fitted to sharpen our 
wits, and to make our perceptions truer and keener, 
than that which is involved in the discriminating use 
of adjectives. For as they describe things by noting 
their qualities, we are obliged, in order to employ 
them properly, to compare the things themselves with 
the qualities named, and this process of comparison 
leads us to the discovery of new knowledge. We 
commonly speak, for instance, of the gray trunks of 
the beech ; the greens of woods and fields ; the blue 
sea, etc. Yet throughout nature we find trees and 
fields in which red, orange, and brown mingle with the 
greens. We may see beech and birch trees whose 
trunks are touched with a purple as delicate and as 
rich as the purple of roses. As for the sea, it is 
oftener green than blue, though it presents all the 
tones known to the artist, from the indigo of starlight 
nights to the crimson and gold which burn along the 
horizon at sunset. 

Therefore the right use of adjectives is a matter 
of taste and observation, and no definite rules can be 
given in regard to them. See things and their quali- 
ties as they are, and try your best to report them 
truthfully. 

Adverbs: The caution given with regard to the 
abuse of adjectives applies also to adverbs, espe- 
cially adverbs of description and degree ending in ly. 



404 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

When several of these are used together, as in the 
illustration following, the effect is disagreeable. 

She sang extremely beautifully, a?id acted so skil- 
fully that she impressed her audience wonderfully 
deeply. 

Here the repetition of the ending ly gives the 
entire sentence an empty, jingling sound, and serves 
to leave the impression of wordiness rather than of 
sincere praise. 

It is a good rule to test all such sentences by read- 
ing them aloud. If they sound like the above, be 
sure that they need revising, and if in your revising 
you discover that you cannot leave out any of your 
adverbs without weakening your sentence, then con- 
vert some of the single adverbs into phrases ; thus : 

She sang with extreme beauty {great is better), and 
acted so skilfully that she impressed her audience 
deeply {wonderfully is unnecessary). 

There are several adverbs which require special 
study. 

Only, alone : Only, when used as an adverb, has a 
limiting or restrictive force, as : This room is for the 
use of guests only. As an adjective it means, U7i- 
accompanied by any other, as : an* only child. These 
two words are frequently confused. 



COMPOSITION 405 



Compare the following : 

Only righteousness can make us happy. 
Righteousness alone can make us happy. 

In the first sentence, the position of only makes 
the sentence mean that there is no other power in the 
world capable of giving us happiness: only righteous- 
ness can confer it upon us. Now this is not true, and 
what the writer means to say may be seen in the 
second sentence ; namely, that righteousness alone (by 
itself) has power to give us happiness. 

At least : 

The Americans, at least, eippreciated freedom at her 
truest value. 

The Americans appreciated freedom, at least, at her 
value. 



Sentence one infers that only the Americans, among 
all the peoples of the world, appreciated freedom. 
Sentence two infers that the Americans may not have 
appreciated other blessings, but that they did appre- 
ciate freedom. This is the intended meaning. 

As to Modifying Phrases and Clauses : 

These should be so placed as to make it imme- 
diately apparent what word or words they are in- 



406 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

tended to modify ; otherwise, the result is certain to be 
confusion. Here is an amusing example of the effect 
of a misplaced clause : 

Erected to the Memory of John Smith 

Accidently shot as a mark of affection by 

his brother. 

As to Sentences : 

The most excellent quality of every well-con- 
structed sentence is Unity. By unity in the sentence 
we mean that relation of individual words by which 
each is made to contribute perfectly to the clear and 
accurate expression of one thought. This implies 
the use of essential words only. If a sentence con- 
tains any word or words which can be taken out 
without detriment to the sense, then the unity of the 
expression is weakened. 

Any word which fails to help is a hindrance. 

A SIMPLE SENTENCE should express one thought 
and only one„ 

In COMPLEX SENTENCES the parts should be so 
closely bound together as to make it impossible for 
your listener or reader to lose sight of the proposition 
set forth. It is a common fault of inexperienced 
writers to use modifying phrases and clauses loosely, 
to separate subject and predicate by the insertion of 



COMPOSITION 407 



parentheses, and to detract attention from the prin- 
cipal subject and predicate by introducing a number 
of minor subjects and predicates in their clauses. 

Examine the following: 

When Caesar was about to land on the shores of 
Britain, which was dangerous by reason of the rocky 
and treacherous nature of the shore, he saw, to his 
surprise, a number of the natives, who were fair- 
skinned and sturdy creatures, advancing through the 
water (though it ran high) to meet him; which sur- 
prised Caesar, who had expected that they would fly 
inland at the very sight of his ships, with their for- 
midable array of veteran warriors and redoubted 
legions. 

This is a good example of a loosely constructed 
sentence. The writer begins with the evident inten- 
tion of describing the landing of Caesar in Great 
Britain, but this intention is lost sight of before he 
had completed two lines, for we have (i) a description 
of the shore ; (2) the action of the natives ; (3) a refer- 
ence to their appearance; (4) Caesar's surprise on 
account of the fear he had looked for, and (5) a de- 
scription of his ships and his soldiers. Not one idea 
in the entire sentence is kept prominently before the 
reader; hence its lack of unity. 



408 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Read the following : 

When Caesar was about to land on the shores of 
Britain, he was surprised to see a number of the 
natives advancing through the stormy waves to meet 
him, for he had expected to see them flying inland at 
the very sight of his ships and soldiers. 

Here (i) Caesar and his surprise are made promi- 
nent; (2) the reason for his surprise is given, and 
thus the sentence gains in Unity. 

Avoid inserting clauses which express complete 
thoughts of themselves. Use them as independent 
sentences. 

As to Compound Sentences : 

The several parts of a compound sentence must be 
connected, either because there exists between them a 
harmonious relationship, or because one part natu- 
rally suggests the other. 

In order that our sentences should conform to the 
requirements given above, we must be careful not to 
make them either too long or unduly complex. 
Frequently we find sentences which are rambling and 
confusing, but which, if they were broken up into 
several shorter sentences, would set forth the thought 
not only more clearly, but also with greater simplicity 
and directness. In many cases long sentences con- 



COMPOSITION 409 



tain phrases and clauses which should really form 
separate thoughts. 

Example : 

We deeply regret to announce the death of Mr. 
Jones, our popular town treasurer. He was beloved 
by every one who knew him, and he was greatly es- 
teemed by his constituents, who are now looking for a 
successor. 

The last clause comes as somewhat of a surprise. 

NOTE : The suggestions outlined above in regard 
to the order of words are not to be mistaken for 
inviolable rules. One of the greatest charms of 
English speech is that it is characterized by variety 
and freedom in the order of its words, for, apart from 
a number of crystallized forms, or idioms, it is 
possible to vary the arrangement of the ideas in a 
sentence and yet express the same thought clearly 
and well. We may say, The moon is bright to-night; 
or, To-night the moon is bright ; or, The moon, to-night, 
is bright. We may also place the object before its 
verb, sometimes with a distinct gain in directness 
and emphasis ; as in, Not a bite shall you have ; Not a 
soul did I see, or we may place the verb before its 
subject, as in, Rose a nurse of many years, and thus 
give greater prominence to the action. So long as 
the relation of the ideas is clear, and the thought is 



4IO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



easily intelligible, a sentence meets all the require- 
ments of good English. 

EXERCISES 

1. Point out the faults of construction in the 
following : 

What is the apparent meaning? 

Alter the word-order so as to bring out the in- 
tended meaning. 

He blew out his brains after bidding his wife good- 
bye ivith a gun. 

He was leaving the place where he was born and 
where as a boy he played in a coach zvith six horses. 

He flushed with pleasure and vowed he would work 
for him forever in an earnest manner of speech. 

Being determined to conquer his faults, they only 
seemed to grow greater than ever. 

She wanted to imitate the society ladies as she had 
read about them in Washington. 

A piano for sale by a young lady about to cross the 
ocean in an oak case with carved legs. 

We met a man on a horse galloping fast, who sud- 
denly stopped. 



EXERCISES 4^1 

People have believed that salt spilled on the table 
brings bad luck from time immemorial. 

He let his revolver fall as he backed against the wall, 
which one of his pursuers kicked under tlie table. 

2. Change the construction of the following ex- 
tracts by breaking up the complex sentences into 
simple sentences expressing the same meaning. 

Give each sentence unity by making some one 
idea prominent. Criticise the adjectives and adverbs. 
Paragraph the second extract. 

a. A certain fox spied out a raven on a tree with a 
morsel in his mouth which set his chops a-watering, 
but how to come at it was the question. 

b. Having little to do in summer-time, how pleasing 
it is to stroll about the outskirts of a large city watch- 
ing the little, rosy-faced, happy children playing 
merrily and freely in the broad, open, and inviting 
fields which at this season of the year are softly green 
and extremely pleasing to behold, and naturally 
inviting to the happy, thought-free youngsters, who 
run swiftly and leap gracefully at their absorbing and 
entertaining pastimes without one single thought of 
care, playing with the swiftly flying, silent hours as 
with easily gathered and gay wild flowers, which they 
string together, every one being a deeply thrilling 
joy. They take absolutely no thought for the dark, 



412 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

sorrowful, dreary days to come, nor for the long 
nights of darkness, as why should they, who are all 
creatures like the merry, joyful spring that is all 
praise and pleasure, but who for all that must come to 
dark, chilling winter at last, unless indeed they store 
up abundantly lively and entertaining spring memo- 
ries in their hearts, and so make their lives like a 
never-fading evergreen whose verdant joys are con- 
stant, and so bring the delightfulness of childhood 
into the sere and yellow of old age. 

Special Notes: 

i. Be careful, in using relative pronouns, to make 
their verbs agree in number with their antecedents. 

He is one of the best men that were ever appointed 
to such a position. She is one of the best teachers who 
have visited us. 

In these sentences the antecedents of the relative 
pronouns are plural and, therefore, the verbs in the 
subordinate clauses are also plural. 

Sometimes we are inclined to neglect this, when 
the subject of the principal clause is singular and 
the subordinate clause modifies a plural antecedent 
in the principal clause. 

Thus, in the sentence, Each one of the persons that 
have visited us this year, went azvay happy, the ante- 
cedent of the relative pronoun that is persons and 
requires the plural verb have, It would be wrong 



EXERCISES 413 



to say, as many are inclined to do, that has visited 
us, making the verb agree with each one. 

2. Be careful in your use of the adverb not. It 
is often placed before the verb of a sentence when 
it is really intended to accompany the noun. Com- 
pare the following : 

a. Every man is not a poet. b. Not every man is 
a poet. 

In a the statement means that no one is a poet, 
since every man is not a poet. In b the statement 
means that although not every man is a poet, some 
men are poets. 

EXERCISES 

I. Supply the right form of the verb in the 
following: — 

There is one saying among the things which it 
good to remember, and that is : Know thyself. 

Every one of the men who helped to make 

life brighter, a hero in the best sense. 

One of the most precious jewels which • — — in the 
Crown of Life, Joy. 

Each of us that seen the loveliness of nature, 

what a fair mother she is. 

The first thing among all things that to be 

desired, good health. 

Let us give great praise to each one of the students 
that really trying. 



414 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

2. Determine in which sentence of each set the 
adverb not is correctly placed : — 

Every boy cannot be a hero. 
Not every boy can be a hero. 

All tilings are not what they seem. 
Not all things are what they seem. 

Every blackbird is not a crow, 
Not every blackbird is a crow. 



Figurative Speech and Writing 

You have now learned all the principal rules per- 
taining to the correct use of the English Language. 
The grammatical aspect of language, however, only 
serves, or at least ought to serve, to lead us to wider 
and nobler surveys of our native speech, to an outlook 
over the fair domains of poetry, philosophy, and 
science. 

The language of the street, the office, of all our 
daily affairs, is extremely practical, and the adequate 
use of it is a necessity. But the language of our 
emotions, of our hopes and dreams, of our fears and 
joys, is of a different nature. In this we go far 
beyond the practical. Imagination lends new forms 
and colors to our expressions, and the work-a-day 
language pertaining to the world of fact and business 
is decorated with the holiday spirit of humor and 
fancy. The hidden music of language then is heard. 
A sentence becomes a kind of song, and what was a 
bald fact is touched with the magic light of poetry. 
In the presence of this sort of speech, the grammarian 
must be silent, for it belongs to life and literature, 
which are too vast for his little useful rules and 
theories to include. The relation of the grammarian's 



416 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



science to poetry and imaginative prose is the relation 
of the mason, who follows necessary principles of 
construction, to the architect of some cathedral, who 
causes the stonework of the mason to blossom into 
beauty of gemmed lights, fairy spires, and majestic 
sculpture. 

It is impossible for us to more than touch upon this 
imaginative side of language, yet the brief sketch 
given below will perhaps stimulate you to a deeper 
study of the subject. 

As we have said, language is simple or ornate, plain 
or figurative, according as we state commonplace 
facts in a plain, homespun manner, or discourse of 
something which touches our emotions or our fancy. 
We may say, America is a free country, which is a 
plain statement of a fact ; but if we wish to make her 
freedom more emphatic we might say, America is free 
as the winds. Here we are no longer stating a plain 
fact, but speaking imaginatively, comparing the 
political freedom of America with a force of nature 
that lies beyond all human control, and which our 
fancy therefore selects as a type of something abso- 
lutely masterless. 

When two things are likened to each other in 
this way we deal in a figure of speech called 
Simile (Latin, similis, like). 

Simile is imaginative comparison. 



FIGURATIVE SPEECH AND WRITING 417 

Now we can emphasize the freedom of America 
more forcibly still by saying: 

America , in her freedom, is the winds. 

Here we drop comparison and declare that the 
attribute of American freedom and the attribute of 
the winds are one and the same. The fancy asso- 
ciates the two, and boldly transfers the qualities of 
one to the other. 

This imaginative association of entirely different 
things is called Metaphor. 

Metaphor is therefore a figure of speech in which 
qualities or attributes are transferred to subjects 
which in reality do not possess them. Thus : She is 
a sour apple. In this striking and humorous Metaphor 
of everyday speech, the quality of sourness, belong- 
ing only to things we can taste, is transferred to a 
quality of mind or character which we can perceive 
only mentally. The imagination associates sullen 
looks and bitter words with something that affects us 
as disagreeable ; hence the assertion that a cross- 
grained person is a sour apple. 

Metaphor is at once the most vivid and the most 
beautiful figure of speech. It enables us to flash a 
picture upon the mind, and in this it may be com- 
pared to the art of painting. It enables us to say in 

one or two sentences what would, in unimaginative 

27 



41 8 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

speech, require a series of sentences. Thus Ossian, 
in describing a warrior, says : . 

In peace thou art the wind of Spring ; 
In war, the mountain storm. 

What lengthy paragraph could give us so happy a 
picture of that combination of gentleness and impetu- 
ous force which belongs to a great hero ! 

Another figure of speech which partakes some- 
what of the nature of Metaphor, is Personification. 
By this we transfer attributes which properly belong 
to individual human beings to inanimate things, and 
even to abstractions. Thus : 

— the morn, in russet mantle clad, 
Walks der the dews of yon high eastern hill. 

From time immemorial men have personified the 
objects about them. The imagination of the ancient 
Greeks peopled with gods and demons the woods 
and fields, the hills and valleys, the rivers and brooks, 
the heavens above and the sun and depths beneath 
the earth. A tree was a dryad or a naiad, a river a 
god ; the seeds the farmers sowed were protected 
and brought to fruition by Ceres, goddess of harvests ; 
the darting lightning and the deep-voiced thunder 
were manifestations of the anger of all-ruling Zeus; 
the sun was a golden chariot driven across the 



FIGURATIVE SPEECH AND WRITING 419 

heavens by Phoebus, and the moon was Selene, a 
goddess of wondrous power and beauty. 

The Norsemen, though more serious-minded than 
the Greeks, also personified the forces of nature (see 
Lesson XXI, Part I) ; so likewise did the peoples of 
the Orient, and the savages of America. Even to- 
day our language abounds in personification, and the 
majority of our words are "dead metaphors, 1 ' pictures 
grown so dim through time and use that we no 
longer see their force and beauty. 

NOTE: It is an excellent rule never to use figura- 
tive expressions unless the nature of your subject 
makes it almost impossible for you to state your 
thoughts in a plain and simple manner. There is 
nothing more beautiful than imaginative writing 
when it is good, as in the extracts given below ; but 
there is nothing so distasteful or more to be avoided 
than mere fanciful language which is employed only 
for the sake of showing how prettily we are able to 
write. Such language is usually obscure as well as 
ridiculous. Remember that nothing atones for loss 
of clearness and good sense. A writer may load his 
sentences with the ornaments of fancy, but if the 
meaning of his sentences is obscure, the ornamenta- 
tion is then only so much worthless tinsel. His com- 
position may be as attractive in form and color as 
leaves strewn in confused heaps over the earth in the 



4^0 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

Fall, but, even as leaves are most delightful when they 
adorn the trees, so ornamentation is most pleasing 
when it forms an organic or essential part of our 
thought; and to be pleasing and beautiful it must 
grow out of the inward forces of our ideas and emo- 
tions even as leaves and flowers spring from the roots 
and the sap of plants. 

EXERCISES 

Point out the similes, metaphors, and personifica- 
tions in the extracts below: 

Three years she grew in sun and shower ; 
Then Nature said, " A lovelier flower 

On earth was never sown ; 
This child I to myself will take ; 
She shall be mine, and I will make 

A lady of my own. Wordsworth. 

It is a beauteous evening calm and fire, 

The holy time is quiet as a nun 

Breathless with adoration. Wordsworth. 

All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair — 
The bees are stirring — birds are on the wing — 

And Winter, slumbering in the open air, 

Wears on Ids smiling face a dream of Spring I 

■ Coleridge. 



EXERCISES 4 2 1 



The pale purple even 

Melts around thy flight ; 
Like a star of heaven 
In the broad daylight 
Thou art unseen, but still I hear thy shrill delight. 

All the earth and air 

With thy voice is loud, 
As, when night is bare, 
From one lonely cloud 
The moon rains out her beams, and Jieaven is 
overflowed. Shelley. 

THE CLOUD 
(In this poem, the cloud is represented as speaking.) 

/ bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers 

From the seas and the streams ; 
I bear light shade for the leaves when layed 

In their noon-day dreams. 
From my wings are shaken 

The dews that awaken the sweet buds every one 
When they lie at rest on their mother's breast 

As she dances about the sun. 
I wield the flail of the flashing hail 

And whiten the green plains under, 
And then again I dissolve it in rain 

And laugh as I pass in thimder. Shelley. 



422 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

TO AUTUMN 

Season of mists and mellow frnitfulness ! 

Close bosom friend of the maturing sun ; 
Conspiring with him how to load and bless 

With fruit the vines that round the thatch eves run. 

Keats. 

Come, lovely and soothing Death, 

Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving, 

In the day, in the night, to all, to each, 

Sooner or later, delicate death. Walt Whitman. 

Man that is born of woman is of few days and full 

of trouble. 
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down : 
He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. 

Job xiv. i, 2. 

A man's life should be a stately march to a sweet but 
unheard music. Thoreau. 

She wasfes' the quiet kind 

Whose naturs never vary, 
Like streams that keep a summer mind 

Snowhid in Jenooary. Lowell. 

They say that in his prime 
Ere the pruning knife of time 
Cut him down. 



EXERCISES 423 

Not a better man was found 
By the crier on his round 
Through the town. 

But now his nose is thin, 
And it rests upon his chin 

Like a staff, 
And a crook is in his back 
And a melancholy crack 

In his laugh. 

— if I should live to be 
The last leaf upon the tree 

In the spring ; 
Let them smile, as I do now, 
At the old forsaken bough 

Where I cling. Holmes. 

Like leaves on a tree the race of man is found, 
Now green in growth, now withering on the ground : 
Another race the following spring supplies , 
They fall successive and successive rise. 

Pope's Homer's Iliad. 

On all this part of the coast, and especially near 
Aros, these great granite rocks that I have spoken of go 
down together in troops into the sea, like cattle on a 
summer's day. R. L. Stevenson. 



424 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



The windows of my soul I throw wide open to the 
sun. Whittier. 

The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. 

Psalm xxm. 

Our acts our angels are — or good or ill, 
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still. 

John Fletcher. 

Books are embalmed minds. Bruce. 

Every one is the son of his own work. Cervantes. 

In this world a man must either be anvil or 
hammer. Longfellow. 

Slow are the steps of Freedom, but her steps never 
turn backward. Lowell, 

— Union we reached only by the discipline of our 
virtues in the severe school of adversity. It has been to 
us all a copious fountain of national, social, and per- 
sonal happiness. Webster. 

NOTE : Allegory and fable must also be included in 
figurative speech. Allegory is narrative made up of 
a tissue of metaphor. Qualities, abstractions, and in- 
animate objects are feigned to have life and charac- 
ters ; and places that exist only in the fancy are given 



EXERCISES 425 

a definite locality. Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress " is 
the greatest example of allegory in literature. Herein 
the difficulties of keeping the path of Christian virtue 
are related as actually happening to travelers in a 
strange land. 

The fable is a form of story, usually with a moral 
purpose, in which impossible incidents are soberly 
related. Animals, plants, etc., are endowed with life 
and individuality, and act and discourse like human 
beings. ^Esop's Fables are a classic example. 

THE FOX AND THE CROW 

A crow stole a piece of cheese and alighted with it 
on a tree. A fox watched her and, wishing to get 
hold of the cheese, stayed underneath and began to 
make compliments upon her size and beauty. He 
went so far as to say that she had the best claims to 
be made Queen of the Birds, and doubtless it would 
have been done, if she had only had a voice. 

The crow, anxious to prove to him that she did 
possess a voice, began to caw vigorously, of course 
dropping the cheese. The Fox pounced upon it and 
carried it off, remarking as he went away, " My good 
friend crow, you have every good quality ; now try 
to get some common sense." 



426 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



EXERCISES 

1. The story given below is matter-of-fact in style, 
and for this reason it is neither so interesting nor 
attractive as it would be if some of the sentences 
were figurative. Rewrite the story in your own 
words, introducing simile and metaphor, and thus 
make the composition more vivid and pleasing. 

When the ranks of the Spartan warriors were 
drawn up for battle, they were firm, strong and 
majestic. Seeing them from a distance, the king of 
Persia sent a messenger to them bearing a proposal 
of peace on his terms. The messenger came swiftly 
and announced to the Spartans that this great host, 
which was great in numbers, would return to Persia 
provided the Spartans agreed to be his subjects. 

" You must give me earth and water to signify that 
my Lord, the King, is Lord over the territory of 
Sparta." 

The Spartan leader frowned, and his frown was 
dark. " Throw this slave," cried he, " into yonder 
well, and let him get the earth and water his king 
desires." 

SUGGESTIONS: To what natural object could you 
compare the Spartan ranks in their firmness, strength 
and majesty? What comparison can you find for the 
swiftness of the King's messenger? Do you know of 



EXERCISES 427 

anything in nature that the great multitude of Persian 
soldiers may be compared with, so as to give a 
better idea of their vast number? What does the 
dark frown of the Spartan leader suggest to you? 

2. Read again the fable from ^sop on page 425, 
and with this as a model, write a short fable, imagin- 
ing any two of the following named animals speaking. 
Their talk must be as like the talk of men or women 
as you can make it. The object of your fable is to 
show humorously the wisdom, the shrewdness, the 
stupidity, etc., of real people by making the animals 
speak and act like them. A little moral, or lesson, 
may be drawn from each fable, as in the fable by 
^sop. 

The Plough Horse and the Thoroughbred. The 
Sheep Dog and the Lynx. (How the latter tries to 
entice the Dog to leave the flock, by telling him of 
his fine free life in the forests. The Dog's reply.) 

The Brook and the River. (The River says that 
the Brook should be grateful to be allowed to enter 
such great company. The Brook reminds the River 
that it is little brooks which make great rivers.) 

The Fox and the .Rabbit. (The Fox calls down 
the rabbit burrow that he has brought Bunny a fine 
chicken. Bunny does n't eat chicken. The wits of 
some people are so sharp that they often cut 
themselves.) 



428 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



The Frog and the Bee. (The Frog thinks the Bee 
does nothing but fly about and sip honey juices. 
What the Bee says. The folly of judging hastily.) 

The Beetle and the Earthworm. (The Beetle calls 
the Earthworm a crawling, useless creature. He 
brags about his life in the glad air and the sunshine. 
What the Earthworm answers.) 

3. The following, as you know, are names of 
natural forces, seasons, etc. : Wind in Spring; Wind 
in Fall; Christmas; Easter; Dawn; Twilight; Night; 
A Cloud, etc. 

Think of them here, not as they really are, but 
imaginatively, as persons. Some may then appear 
to you as boys or men, some as children, as noble 
women, or as beautiful maidens. Thus we can think 
of frost as Jack Frost, a mischievous boy, nipping 
people's ears, noses and fingers; or as a wonderful 
artist, drawing ice pictures on the windows, and 
creating strange snow images out of old stumps and 
fences. Select the one which seems most real to 
your fancy, and write a short description of it as a 
person. 

4. Select any one of the following, and write an 
allegorical composition. Make it humorous if the 
subject admits of humor. 

Patience : how she sat without speaking in the 
Town of Unrest, and how she was rewarded. The 



EXERCISES 429 



Downfall of Billy Boasting and Tom Brag in 
the Battle of Proof. Little Kind Deed and his 
Sister Good Heart How Miss Wait-a-While missed 
the last train to the Town of Good-Chance. 

Note : These are only suggestions. Do your best 
to invent a story of your own, making feelings, 
thoughts, principles of behavior, beliefs, evils, etc., 
act and speak like persons. 



Punctuation 

JUST as figurative language belongs to the highest 
forms of expression, so Punctuation belongs to the 
mechanical side of writing. 

Punctuation consists of a method of marking off 
different parts of a sentence by means of certain 
points. These points are intended to direct the 
reader in his delivery of sentences, as well as to 
assist in making their meaning clear. 

The points of punctuation are: The Comma (,), 
the Semicolon (;), the Colon ( :), the Period (.), the 
Note of Interrogation (?), the Note of Exclama- 
tion ( !), the Parenthesis ( ), or, in place of this, the 

double Dash ( ). Besides these we have: the 

mark of Elision (' ), which shows that some letter or 
letters have been left out; as, y Tis, for It is; Heavn, 
for Heaven ; The Caret ( A ), which shows that a word 
has been omitted; the Diaeresis ( " ), which shows 
that two vowels used together are pronounced sepa- 
rately, as Coordinate ; Quotation Marks ( " " ), placed 
at the beginning and the end of a quoted passage. 

Sentences are no longer punctuated as much as 
they used to be. In the writings of the seventeenth 
and the early part of the eighteenth century, nearly 



P UNCTUA TION 43 I 



every sentence was crowded with commas, semi- 
colons, and dashes. The tendency of our times is to 
be temperate in the use of points, and what was once 
governed by rule is now left largely to individual 
taste and judgment. 

The following rules, however, will be helpful to 
you : 

(i) Every declarative sentence ends with a period 
(.); every exclamatory sentence with a Note of 
Exclamation (!); every interrogative sentence with 
a Note of Interrogation (?). 

(2) The comma is used to mark off independent 
elements, and the adverbs yes and no, as : Paul, an 
apostle of Jesus. Yes, I saw him. No, they missed 
her. And they saw the king, their master. Sir, you are 
mistaken. However, we were wrong. Well, let it go. 

In many cases a dash is used with appositives : 
Books — lighthouses on the sea of time. 

The comma is also used to distinguish adjective 
and adverb phrases and clauses, especially when they 
are placed before the subject : Mounting to the hilltop, 
we saw the distant sea. When the sun came up in his 
splendor, it was a sight never to be forgotten. 

The comma is not used in simple sentences, unless 
they contain several parts requiring separation for the 
sake of clearness : 



43 2 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

(a) The Spring of the year is the season of hope, 

(b) One of the most beautiful aims of education in 
our public schools , and one of the most noble as well, is 
the endeavor to bring into being amo?tg all classes of 
men and women an indestructible spirit of love and 
comradeship, deeper and truer than the world lias ever 
known. 

When two or more adjectives are placed together 
to modify one subject, they are usually separated by 
commas : 

The huge, gnarled, mossy trunk of the old oak tree. 

(3) The coordinate parts of compound sentences 
are punctuated according to the rules which apply to 
simple sentences. The comma is used, however, to 
separate the independent parts of compound sen- 
tences, unless they are very short. Thus, in, Virtue 
lives but evil dies, no comma is needed ; but in The 
material glory of Spain is fading, but the memories of 
her great deeds will never fade, a comma is required 
to mark off distinctly the two contrasted sentences. 

When coordinate conjunctions are omitted in a 
compound sentence, the comma is used to indicate 
the division of the several parts : He laughed, he 
danced, he sang. 



PUXCTUA TION 433 



In compound subject, predicate and object, a 
comma is always inserted after each word but the 
last. If, however, a conjunction is used between the 
last two words, a comma is not used. 

Men, women, children, animals and plants are all 
dependent upon sunlight, fresh air, water and food. 

The semi-colon ( ;) is used between two complete 
sentences closely connected in meaning: 

The sun's rim dips ; the stars rush out ; 
At one stride comes the dark. 

The gate opened ; the soldiers marched forth. 

The colon (:) is used before quotations and 
illustrations : 

His words were as follows: u Fellow-citizens, 
etc. — " 

It is also used after the vocative in letter-writing, 
My dear Sir: 

Some writers prefer the use of dashes to the 
colon. 

NOTE: Never depend upon punctuation to make 
your meaning plain. Before the time of Shakes- 
peare, and for a century after, English prose-writers, 
with few exceptions, constructed sentences so in- 
volved, so rambling and cumbersome, that the 

28 



434 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

employment of stops was necessary to clearness. 
The sentences of our best modern writers are models 
of lucidity and precision, and therefore punctuation 
contributes little or nothing to the clearness of the 

sense. 

EXERCISE 

Punctuate the following: 

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought 
forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in 
liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are 
created equal Now we are engaged in a, great civil 
war testing whetlier that nation or any nation so con- 
ceived and dedicated can long endure We are met on 
a great battlefield of that war We are met to dedicate 
a portion of it as the final resting-place for those who 
here gave their lives that the nation might live It is 
altogether fitting and proper that we should do this 
But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate we cannot 
consecrate we cannot hallow this ground The brave 
men living and dead who struggled here have conse- 
crated it far above our power to add or detract The 
world will little note nor long remember what we say 
here but it can never forget what they did here It is 
for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the 
unfinished work which they have thus far so nobly 
carried on It is rather for us to be here dedicated to 
the great task remaining before us that from these 



EXERCISES 435 

honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for 
which they here gave the last full measure of devotion 
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not 
have died in vain that this nation shall under God have 
a new birth of freedom and that government of the 
people by the people and for the people shall not perisJi 
from the earth Lincoln 

How far that little candle throws its beams 
So shines a good deed in a naughty world 

Shakespeare 

/ care not Fortune what you me deny 

You cannot rob me of free Nature's grace 

You cannot shut the windows of the sky 

Through which Aurora shows her brightening face 

You cannot bar my constant feet to trace 

The woods and lawns by living stream at eve 

Thomson 

LETTER-WRITING 

Ticonderoga, N. Y , 
Aug. 3, 1902. 
Dear Mamma : 

We are having a great time. For the past week, 
every hour, I might say every minute, has been 
crowded with fun and joy, swimming, boating, fish- 
ing, driving, walking and, in the evening, games of 
all kinds. 



436 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

How I wish, dear mamma, that you were here to 

take part in our pleasure ! And Bob longs for you 

as much as I do, for he said last night: " If Mammy 

were here everything would be complete." 

Your loving daughter, 

Mary. 

In the above example, we have a letter such as a 
young girl might write to her mother. The style is 
therefore easy and familiar. 

Observe how the letter begins. First comes, in 
the upper right-hand corner, the address of the writer ; 
directly below this the date is given. Next observe 
that the vocative, or manner of addressing the person 
written to, is begun in the upper left-hand corner, but 
lower down than the writer's address and the date. 
This vocative may be followed by a colon ( : ), though 
some prefer to use simply a comma or a dash. Then 
comes a paragraph, the beginning of the letter proper. 

Next observe that the close, Your loving daughter, 
stands in a paragraph by itself, as does also the sig- 
nature, Mary. 

The letter above will serve as a model for the 
make-up of all letters. There are, however, other 
styles of letters. The above illustrates the familiar 
style. 

Let us consider, in addition to this, the formal 
style, the style of letter such as strangers or business 
men write to each other. Naturally, we do not ad- 



EXERCISES 437 

dress a stranger as Dear Friend ; nor do we sign 
ourselves Yours affectionately. We write Dear Sir, 
or Dear Madam, or Dear Sirs, or Gentlemen, as the 
case may be ; and we sign ourselves, Yours very truly, 
Yours truly, or Yours sincerely. 

Example: 

50 John St., Boston, Mass., 
Dec. 9, 1902. 

Gentlemen : 

Please send me a copy of your latest publication, 
entitled, " The History of the Early Colonists." 

I enclose a money order for $1.00 in payment for 
the same. 

Trusting that you will send the book as soon as 

possible, I remain, 

Yours truly, 

William Jones. 
Messrs. Brown, Smith and Company, 
New York City. 

Notice that the name and place of business of the 
firm addressed are placed in the lower left-hand 
corner of the letter. This same address is placed on 
the envelope, as follows : 



Messrs. Brown, Smith and Company, 
New York City, 

N. Y. 



438 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

In writing to an acquaintance, it is proper to begin 
your letter as follows: Dear Mr. Smith, Dear Miss 
Robinson, etc. 

The address should be written on the envelope as 
below : 



Mr. John Smith, 

Chicago, 
Ills. 



NOTE: Messrs. is the plural of Mr. Both words 
are abbreviations of the French Monsieur (Mr.) and 
Messieurs (Gentlemen). Madam is also from the 
French, Madame. Its plural form is Mesdames. 

Letter-writing is an art, and a delightful art. There 
is no reading more pleasant or interesting than a good 
letter, written by one who observes and who has the 
gift of giving his observations, his thoughts, and 
opinions, in a happy manner. 

In these days of feverish hurry, letter-writing has be- 
come almost a lost art; but a few generations ago it was 
widely cultivated. People then had more leisure ; they 
read fewer books, but as books were expensive(a book- 
lover paying five dollars for a work purchasable to-day 
for one dollar or less), people were more careful in the 
selection of authors than we are nowadays. 



EXERCISES 439 

The Postal system is a comparatively modern insti- 
tution. Before it was established, correspondence 
was expensive, and so, to save expense, people wrote 
less frequently, but then they wrote as much in one 
letter as many of us in these times write in ten or 
twenty. The letter of the eighteenth century was a 
kind of newspaper. Friends recorded for each other 
the happenings of their respective localities ; treated 
at length of new books ; commented on political 
situations; and estimated men and events in the 
spirit of our newspaper editorials. 

There is no better training in the art of written ex- 
pression than that provided in letter-writing. We 
should therefore try to form the habit of framing 
good letters, and avoid the habit of "dashing off" 
brief and carelessly written notes. Never attempt to 
excuse yourself on the ground that you have " had 
so much to do and to see." Rather wait until you 
have leisure to prepare an interesting letter adequately 
descriptive of whatever objects and places of interest 
you have seen. 

If you should happen to meet with any unusual 
persons, write about them in your letters, and thus 
share your experiences with your friends. If you 
have read and enjoyed some good book, tell your 
friends about its good qualities, and give them your 
reasons for considering it a work worthy of their 
study. 



440 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Cowper's Letters are fine models of well-written 
and uelightful epistles; so also are the letters of 
Charles Lamb, of Robert Louis Stevenson (Vailima 
Letters), and those of other famous men. 

Avoid even the approach to stiffness or affectation 
in your letters. Be familiar, sincere, natural. Say 
what you have to say in the best words at your com- 
mand, and report to your friend your observations as 
truthfully as you can. Ready Letter Writers are. 
meant for people of unready wits. Your own sense 
of what is right and fitting should enable you to reply 
acceptably to any style of letter sent to you. 

NOTE : The teacher may assign exercises in letter- 
writing on any of the many topics furnished through- 
out the book. 



Index — Part I 



Action, Completed, 78 ; Perfected, 
78 ; Progressing, 79, 80, 81 

Adjectives, 25, 106; and Adverbs 
Compared, 122; Complements, 
177, 178; Descriptive, 105, 106; 
Limiting, 111; used Adver- 
bially, 125 

Adverbs, 115; and Adjectives 
Compared, 122 ; Clauses, 167 ; 
Clauses of Cause, 169 ; Clauses 
of Condition, 168; Clauses of 
Manner, 168; Clauses of Place, 
169; Clauses of Purpose, 168; 
Clauses of Time, 167 ; how 
formed, 123; of Cause, 128; 
of Degree, 116-118; of Exclu- 
sion, 128; of Limitation, 128; 
of Manner, 116, 128; of Place, 
116; of Reason, 127; of Time, 
116, 127 ; used as Adjectives, 126 

All, 111 

Analysis, 39; Logical and Gram- 
matical, 37 

And, 239 ff 

Antecedents, 90 

Apposition, 173 

Appositive, 173 

Apostrophe, 34 

As, 98 

Auxiliaries, 58, 70, 77, 84 

Awful, 109 



Bad, 125 

Be, 26,57, 58, 63 ff , 71, 86 

But, 99, 241, 242, 244 

Can, 71 

Capital Letters, 31-32 

Clauses, 135, 137, 161 ; Adjective, 
161; Adverbial, 167 ; Principal, 
225; Subordinate, 225; used as 
Nouns, 200 

Complements, 177, 178; Mean- 
ing, 178; Objective, 181; Sub- 
jective, 184 

Composition, 12 ; Defined, 12 

Conjunctions, 190 ; Co-ordinate, 
241 

Contrast, 241 

Co-ordinate, 241 

Copula, 25, 63 ff 

Could, 71 

Do, 84, 85 
Duly, 123 

Ellipsis, 217 
Elliptical, 218 
Emphatic, 85 

Fast, 123, 125 
For, 55 
Future, 77 



442 



INDEX 



Going, to, 81 




Past, 77 


Grammar, 38 




Phrases, 70, 135, 136, 154; Ad- 
jective, 157; Adjuncts, 157; 


Hard, 123, 124, 125 




Adverbial, 118, 157; Preposi- 


Have, 78, 86 




tional, 157 ; used as Nouns, 
195 


Ideas, 2 




Pleonasm, 213 


111,125 




Plural, 33, 78 


Independent Elements, 207 




Predicate, 6, 24; Adjectives, 27, 


-ing, 143 




126; Base, 38; Compound, 188 ; 


Interjections, 207 




Grammatical, 38 ; Logical, 38 ; 


Interrogative, 84, 85 




Nouns, 26, 49; Simple, 187; 


It, 91 




Verbs, 27 


-le, 123, 125 




Predication, Kinds of, 24, 27 
Preposition, 139 ; Object of, 162 


Logic, 38 




Present, 77 


-ly, 123, 125 




Pronouns, 89, 90 ; Impersonal, 92 ; 
Personal, 90 ; Relative, 97, 162 ; 


May, 71 




Interrogative, 100 


Might, 71 






Modifiers, 105, 110, 115, 122, 


135, 




142, 150, 154, 155, 161 ; Review, 


Right, 125 


148 






Must, 71 




Sentences, Classes of, 223 ; Com- 


Negative, 84, 85 ; Double, 214 


plex, 224 ; Compound, 240 ; De- 


Not, 84 




clarative, 16, 18 ; Defined, 3 ; 


Noun, 24, 29 ff; Common, 


31; 


Exclamatory, 1 7 ; Expansion 


Proper, 31 ; Possessive Form 


of, 230; Imperative, 16,18; In- 


of, 33 




terrogative, 16, 18; Kinds of, 
14, 18 ; Simple, 223 


Object, 47 ff ; Complements, 


179; 


ShaU, 71 


Compound, 189; Direct, 48 


52; 


Should, 71 


Indirect, 52, 53 




Singular, 33, 78 


Objective Complements, 181 




So, 243 


Or, 244 




Subject, 6, 24 ; Base, 38; Comple- 
ments, 184 ; Compound, 187 ; 


Parenthesis, 208 




Grammatical, 38; Logical, 38; 


Participles, 58, 138, 142; 


Pas- 


Simple, 187 


sive, 58 




Suffix, 123 



INDEX 



443 



Tenses, 80 








Verbals, 144 


Terrible, 109 








Very, 126 


That, 98, 99 








Vocative, 209 


Thee, 90 








Voice, Active and Passive, 58 


There, 64, 65 










Therefore, 244 










Thou, 90 








Well, 125 


Thought, 3 








What, 100 


To, 55 








Which, 98 ff 


Truly, 123 








Who, 98 ff 
Will, 71, 77 


Verbs, 24, 43, 


44; 


Adjective 


Words, 3 


Form, 57; Auxiliary 


, 58; 


De- 


Would, 71 


fined, 44; Transitivf 


, 48 


, In- 


Wrong, 125 


transitive, 48; 


Only 


Transitive 


-y, 123 


have Passive 


Form, 


61; 


Pas- 




sive, 56 ; Passive Form, 


57; 




Verb-Phrase, 


70, 84 


; Simple 


Ye, 90 


Form, 70; Transitive, 


48 




Yet, 242, 244 



Index — Part II 



Address, of letters, 436 

Adjectives, 298; Attributive, 
298 ; as Nouns, 300 ; Compound, 
298; Descriptive, 298; Dis- 
tributive, 299; Limiting, 298; 
Material, 298; Numeral, 299; 
of color, 301 ; Participial, 298 ; 
Pronouns, 299; Pronominal, 
299 ; Proper, 298 ; Proper, used 
as nouns, 301 ; Qualitative, 298 ; 
Quantitative, 299 ; two or more, 
432 ; used as Nouns, Possessive 
Case of, 300 ; Use of, 401 ; Used 
Appositively, 300; Used At- 
tributively, 300; Used Predi- 
catively, 300, 301 

Adverbs, 368 ; Comparison, 370 ; 
Use of, 403 

Agreement, 326; Pronoun, 295; 
Subject and Verb, 325 

Alone, 404 

Antecedent, 265 

Any, 266 

Apposition, 300 

Appositives, 431 

Article, Definite, 299 ; Indefinite, 
299 

As, 285; Relative, how used, 294 

At least, 405 

Be, 316, 318 



But, 285; as a Conjunction, 374 ; 
as a Preposition, 382 ; Mean- 
ing of, 294 

Can, 316, 346 

Case, Nominative, 288; Nouns, 
288; Objective, 288; Posses- 
sive, 288 : Possessive of Nouns, 
how formed, 289 ; Possessive of 
Pronouns, how formed, 293 ; 
Pronouns, 292 ; Vocative, 289 

Clauses, Adverbial, 431 ; place of, 
405 

Close of Letter, 436 

Colon, 433 

Comma, 431, 432 

Comparison, 301 

Composition, 388 ; Arrangement 
of Material, 390 ; Material for, 
389 ; Suggestions for, 388 

Compound subject, predicate, and 
object, 433 

Conjunctions, 373 ; Co-ordinate, 
374; Co-ordinate, omission of, 
432 ; Correlation, 376 ; Subor- 
dinate, 375 

Copula, 256 

Dare, 346 
Dash, 431, 433 
Date of Letters, 436 



446 



INDEX 



Degree, Comparative, 302 ; Irreg- 
ular forms of, 302 ; Positive, 
301 ; Superlative, 301, 302 

Do, 316 

Each, 206 

Exclamation, Note of, 431 

Figurative Speech, 415 

Gender of Nouns, 271 ; Common, 
282; Feminine, 282; Mascu- 
line, 282 ; Neuter, 282 ; Nouns, 
282; of Pronouns, 284 

Had, 351 
Have, 316 

Iclept, 346 

Infinitive, 355 ; in ing, 356 ; 
Simple Form, 356 ; Uses of, 
361 ; Perfect, 359 ; Present, 359 
-ing, 356 

Interrogation, Note of, 431 

Least, 303 
Less, 303 

Letter -Writing, 435; Styles of, 
436 

May, 316, 347, 351 

Metaphor, 417 

Mode, 318-320; Imperative, 350; 
Indicative, 349-351 ; Subjunc- 
tive, 350, 351 

More, 302 

Most, 302 

Must, 316, 347 

None, 266 



Not, 413 

Nouns, 257 ; Abstract, 258 ; Case, 
288; Class-Nouns, 259; Collec- 
tive, 258 ; Collective, Agree- 
ment of, 326; Common, 257 
Gender, 282; Material, 258 
Number, 271 ; Proper, 257 
Used as Adjectives, 301 ; Ver- 
bal, 358 

Number, 271; Nouns, 271; Plu- 
ral, 271; Pronouns, 277 ; Singu- 
lar, 271 

Numerals, 299; Cardinal, 299; 
Multiplicative, 299 ; Ordinal, 
299 ; Partitive, 299 

One, 266 ; Possessive Case of, 

295 
Only, 404 
Other, 266 
Ought, 347, 359 

Paragraph, 390; Sign for, 391 

Parsing, 256 

Participles, 364; As Adjectives, 
366; Imperfect, 364; Passive, 
318,365; Passive Perfect, 318 ; 
Past, 365; Perfect, 331, 364; 
Present, 365 

Parts of Speech, 255 

Period, 431 

Personification, 284, 418 

Phrases, Place of, 405 ; Adverbial, 
431 

Plural, 271 

Prepositions, 381 ; as parts of the 
verb, 309 

Pronouns, 264 ; Agreement, 279, 
295; Case, 292; Demonstra- 
tive, 277, 279 ; Demonstrative, 



INDEX 



447 



Plural of, 295; Gender, 284; 
Indefinite, 299; Interrogative, 
265,285; Interrogative, Case of, 
294 ; Number, 277 ; Possessive, 

264, 278; Personal, 264, 284; 
.Reflexive, 265, 278; Relative, 

265, 285; Relative, Agreement 
of, 405 ; Relative, Cases of, 294 ; 
Relative, Place of, 400; Rela- 
tive (omitted), 295 

Punctuation, 430 

Quotation, Mark of, 433 
Quoth, 347 

Semi-colon, 433 

Sentence, Complex, 408; Com- 
pound, 408; Simple, 406; Unity, 
406 

Shall, 316, 347 

Should, 351 

Simile, 416 

Singular of Nouns, 271 ; of Pro- 
nouns, 277 

Styles of letters, 436 ; Familiar, 
436 

Tense, 329; Future, 329, 330; 
Future Perfect, 329 ; Past, 329, 
330; Past Perfect, 329; Per- 
fect, 331; Present, 329, 330; 
Present Perfect, 329 
That, 279, 285, 375 
To, Use in Infinitive, 358 

Verbs, 307; Attributive, 307; 



Auxiliary, 315; Causative, 310; 
Copulative, 307 ; Emphatic 
Form, 342; Finite, 355; Im- 
personal, 317; Infinitive, 355; 
Interrogative Form, 342 ; In- 
transitive, 308 ; Intransitive of 
Comple ■ e Predication, 308 ; In- 
transitive of Incomplete Predi- 
cation, 309 ; Irregular Weak, 
332; Mode, 349; Negative 
Form, 342; Number, 324; Prin- 
cipal Parts, 332; Progressive 
Form, 341; Reciprocal, 316; 
Reflexive, 316; Regular Weak, 
332 ; Strong, 336, 341 ; Tense, 
329; Transitive, 307; Voice, 
318; Weak, 332; With Prep- 
ositions, 309 

Vocative, 433, 436 

Voice, 318 ; Active, 318 ; Passive, 
318 

What, 266 

Whatsoever, 266 

Which, Interrogative, how used, 
294 

Who, Interrogative, how used, 
294 

Whose, 285 ; Relative, how used, 
294 

Whosoever, 266 

Will, 316, 348 

Wont, 348 

Words, Choice of, 392; Word- 
order, 395 

Would, 351 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Oct. 2006 

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